Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.10993 – T-MOBILE AUSTRIA HOLDING / MERIDIAM INVESTMENT / JV) Candidate case for simplified procedure (Text with EEA relevance) 2023/C 40/04
Date: 2023-02-02
Institutions: Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Subjects: economic concentration, investment company, merger control, telecommunications








C_2023040EN.01000401.xml










2.2.2023   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 40/4






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.10993 – T-MOBILE AUSTRIA HOLDING / MERIDIAM INVESTMENT / JV)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(2023/C 40/04)

1.   
On 26 January 2023, 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:






—


T-Mobile Austria Holding GmbH (‘TMAH’, Austria), controlled by Deutsche Telekom Europe BV (‘Deutsche Telekom’, Germany),










—


Meridiam Investment GmbH (‘Meridiam Investment’, Austria), controlled by Meridiam SAS (‘Meridiam’, France),










—


Alpen Glasfaser Holding GmbH (‘HoldCo’, Austria), a newly created company which will hold all the shares in Alpen Glasfaser GmbH (‘FibreCo’, Austria), which in turn will hold all the shares in Alpen Glasfaser Zwei GmbH (‘FibreCo Subsidized’, Austria) (HoldCo, FibreCo and FibreCo Subsidized are jointly referred to as ‘JV’).




TMAH and Meridiam Investment will acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of the JV.
The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares in a newly created company constituting a joint venture.


2.   
The business activities of the undertakings concerned are the following:






—


TMAH is a telecommunication operator in Austria which, through its subsidiary T-Mobile Austria GmbH, owns mobile networks with nationwide coverage, offers mobile telecommunications services at a retail and wholesale level, and owns and operates a hybrid fibre-coaxial cable network in parts of Austria through which it offers cable TV, fixed internet and fixed telecommunications services to private and business customers,










—


Meridiam Investment is an indirect wholly owned portfolio company of Meridiam, which is an alternative investment fund manager focussing on long-term infrastructure investments in Europe, the Americas, and Africa.






3.   

The business activities of the JV will be the following: rolling out a passive optical fibre infrastructure in designated roll-out areas in Austria and offering bitstream access wholesale products to internet service providers.



4.   
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.
Pursuant to the Commission Notice on a simplified procedure for treatment of certain concentrations under Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (2) it should be noted that this case is a candidate for treatment under the procedure set out in the Notice.


5.   
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.10993 – T-MOBILE AUSTRIA HOLDING / MERIDIAM INVESTMENT / JV
Observations can be sent to the Commission by email or by post. Please use the contact details below:
Email: COMP-MERGER-REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu
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’).

(2)  OJ C 366, 14.12.2013, p. 5.