Orange is prepared to transfer part of its network assets to a smaller Spanish operator as part of its efforts to persuade the European Commission's antitrust authority to approve its proposed EUR 3.4 billion takeover of Spanish operator Jazztel, reports El Economista. The EC recently suspended its investigation into Orange's proposed takeover of Jazztel for a second time, as it waits to receive more information from the companies. The Commission had previously set a deadline of 30 April to decide on the merger. However, according to the report unnamed sources close to the negotiations now suggest that Orange is prepared to ease the EC’s concerns about the competitive implications of the merger by transferring fibre-optic and ADSL assets as well as mobile phone frequencies to a smaller player, thought to be TeliaSonera’s Spanish mobile unit Yoigo or MVNO MasMovil.
The move would create a fourth major telecoms operator able to compete with Telefonica, Orange and Vodafone. When it announced an in-depth investigation of the Orange-Jazztel deal in December, the EC expressed concerns that over 80 percent of the Spanish telecoms sector would be controlled by just three major operators after Vodafone completed its EUR 7.2 billion acquisition of broadband provider Ono last year. In a hearing in Brussels last week, Orange argued the case for the takeover before officials from the Commission and national competition authorities in France, Spain, Italy, Britain and Romania, along with executives from Vodafone, Yoigo and MasMovil.
