PARIS (Reuters) – The European regulator will, in the coming days, issue a warning to Orange and MasMovil over their merger agreement in Spain worth 18.6 billion euros, a source told Monday. folder.
The European Commission will raise its concerns in a statement of objections, the source continued.
Orange and MasMovil are not expected to offer concessions until they receive the document, the source added.
On the Paris Stock Exchange, the Orange title widened its losses and fell 0.9% at 11:00 GMT after having sold up to 1.58%.
The Commission, which must make its decision by September 4, and Orange did not comment.
In April, the European Commission launched an in-depth investigation into the proposed merger of Orange’s activities in Spain with the local operator MasMovil, due to its fears about the consequences of this operation in terms of competition.
Orange and MasMovil, respectively number two and four in the telecoms market in Spain, announced last July an agreement on this merger for an estimated total amount of 18.6 billion euros, which would reduce the number of operators in this country, with Telefonica and Vodafone.
The European Commission’s competition services have already opposed in the past merger plans reducing the number of operators from four to three in certain major markets in order to avoid price increases for consumers.
(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Zhifan Liu, editing by Blandine Hénault, Tangi Salaün and Kate Entringer)
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