EU gives Tiscali buyout go-ahead

 

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By Matthew Sparkes

Posted on 30 Jun 2009 at 16:17

Carphone Warehouse has won approval from the EU for its Tiscali takeover, making it the largest broadband supplier in the UK.

The £236 million buyout allowed the firm to leapfrog BT to market dominance, with 4.25 million users - but aroused the interest of European Union competition regulators.

A deal was signed in May this year, but both firms had to await formal approval from antitrust authorities before it could take effect.

"The Commission's analysis focused in particular on the domestic sector of broadband services, where the merged entity will become one of the main competitors to the incumbent operator BT," says a statement from the European Commission.

"The Commission's examination of the proposed transaction showed that none of the above markets would give rise to competition concerns. The new entity will continue to face competition from a number of strong players, especially BT, as well as from a number of strong alternative operators, including those based on the cable platform. Competition from other technologies, such as mobile telecommunications, is also growing," it added.

Carphone Warehouse boss Charles Dunstone has said that eventually the company will operate under a single brand, although uniting TalkTalk, AOL, Tiscali, Pipex, Freedom2surf and Nildram will take some time.