EC allows DT to sell Romanian fixed line division to Orange, but conditionally

The European Commission approved the transaction by which Deutsche Telekom (DT), as an indirect owner, sells the Romanian fixed line operator Telekom Romania Communications (TRC) to the French Orange group, Economedia.ro reported.

But it conditions the deal on TRC disinvesting its 30% stake in Telekom Romania Mobile Communications (TRMC) with a view of preserving an adequate level of competition on the market.

Following the investigation, the Commission found that "the transaction, as originally notified, would have raised serious competition concerns in the retail market for mobile telecommunications services."

This could have reduced Orange's incentives to compete with TRMC, provided Orange with access to commercially sensitive information about its competitor and allowed it to block TRMC's significant investments or the acquisition of the operator by a strategic buyer, the Commission explains.

To address this issue, the Commission proposes corrective measures, namely the transfer of the 30% minority interest held by TKR in TRMC to Hellenic Telecommunications Organization (OTE), which is the current majority shareholder of TRMC and a subsidiary of DT. Furthermore, the Commission suspends the transaction until TKR transfers its 30% stake in TRMC to OTE.

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