Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.9871 — Telefónica/Liberty Global/JV) (Text with EEA relevance) 2020/C 330/06
Date: 2020-10-06
Institutions: Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Subjects: Internet, economic concentration, merger control, telecommunications, television








C_2020330EN.01001501.xml










6.10.2020   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 330/15






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.9871 — Telefónica/Liberty Global/JV)
(Text with EEA relevance)
(2020/C 330/06)

1.   
On 30 September 2020, the Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (1).
This notification concerns the following undertakings:






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Telefónica S.A. (‘Telefónica’, Spain),










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Liberty Global PLC (‘Liberty Global’, UK),










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the Joint Ventre (‘JV’, UK).




Telefónica and Liberty Global acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of the newly created JV, combining Telefónica’s UK Limited business (‘O2’) and Liberty Global’s Virgin Media business (‘Virgin Media’).
The concentration is accomplished by way of a purchase of shares in a newly created company constituting a joint venture.


2.   
The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:






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for Telefónica: global telecommunications company which operates fixed and mobile communication networks. It offers mobile, landline, internet and television services under a number of brands, including Movistar, O2 and Vivo. Telefónica is listed on the Madrid, New York, Lima and Buenos Aires Stock Exchanges. Telefónica’s O2 business is active in the UK and offers mobile telecommunications services, such as voice, SMS, MMS, mobile internet, mobile broadband, roaming and call termination services.










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for Liberty Global: an international video, broadband and communications company listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange, with consolidated operations in the UK, Ireland, Belgium, Poland and Slovakia. Liberty Global’s Virgin Media business is active in the UK and its principal activity is the provision of fixed-line broadband, telephony and pay-TV services. Virgin Media also provides mobile communications services as an MVNO under the Virgin Mobile brand.










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for the JV: a fixed and mobile communications network operator active in the UK, combining Telefónica’s O2 business and Liberty Global’s Virgin Media business. This also includes O2’s interests in the Tesco Mobile joint venture, which is active as a mobile virtual network operator (‘MVNO’) in the UK, and the CTIL mobile network-sharing joint venture with Vodafone.






3.   

On preliminary examination, the Commission finds that the notified transaction could fall within the scope of the Merger Regulation. However, the final decision on this point is reserved.



4.   
The Commission invites interested third parties to submit their possible observations on the proposed operation to the Commission.
Observations must reach the Commission not later than 10 days following the date of this publication. The following reference should always be specified:
M.9871 — Telefónica/Liberty Global/JV
Observations can be sent to the Commission by email, by fax, or by post. Please use the contact details below:
Email: COMP-MERGER-REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu
Fax +32 22964301
Postal address:





European Commission




Directorate-General for Competition




Merger Registry




1049 Bruxelles/Brussel




BELGIQUE/BELGIË







(1)  OJ L 24, 29.1.2004, p. 1 (the ‘Merger Regulation’).