EC Approves Sale of Telenor's CEE Assets to Czech Investment Group PPF
The European Commission said on Monday it has approved the sale of Norwegian telecommunications group Telenor's assets in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) to Czech Republic-based investment group PPF."The Commission found that the proposed transaction would raise no competition concerns," the EU's executive body said in a statement. The transaction includes Telenor's wholly-owned mobile operations in Hungary, Bulgaria, Montenegro and Serbia and the technology service provider Telenor Common Operation. The Commission said it has found that the transaction "would not give rise to horizontal overlaps, as the companies' activities are confined to the different territories in which they hold their respective telecommunication licenses."In addition, the Commission found that the vertical links between the upstream markets for wholesale international roaming and wholesale mobile and fixed call termination services and the downstream markets for retail mobile and fixed telecommunications services arising from the transaction would be unproblematic.