European Commission to Probe Ziggo-Liberty Global Merger

BRUSSELS: The European Commission has opened an "in-depth investigation" regarding Liberty Global's proposed takeover of the Dutch cable operator Ziggo, looking into whether or not the deal is in line with the EU Merger Regulation.

The merger would bring together the country's only two suppliers of premium pay-TV movie channels. The EU's antitrust authority said it "has concerns that the transaction may reduce competition in a number of pay-TV and telecommunications markets in the Netherlands."

The Commission said that its initial market investigation showed that there could be risks to competition in the Dutch markets for the acquisition of TV channels, the acquisition of Dutch-language content, the wholesale supply of premium pay-TV movie channels and other telecommunications-related issues. It also found that the deal could give the new combined entity greater negotiation power toward content owners and TV channel suppliers. "This could, in turn, negatively affect its competitors in retail pay TV and Dutch end consumers."

The investigation also indicated that the merged entity might have the ability and incentive to shut down or hinder OTT service providers from effective access to its Internet network in order to strengthen its own competitive position.

The Commission now has until September 18 to make a decision.