Vodafone and Liberty Global offer concessions for Dutch merger

Vodafone and Liberty Global have offered unspecified concessions in an attempt to gain EC approval for the planned merger of their Dutch operations.

The pair have filed their offer with the EC, but without making details public. The EC is now provisionally due to rule on the merger at the beginning of next month.

Earlier this month the Dutch competition watchdog asked the EC to be given the responsibility to rule on the deal itself, although the Commission has yet to respond. The EC declined a similar request two years ago when Liberty Global merged Ziggo with its own UPC Netherlands operation.

Vodafone and Liberty Global agreed to merge their Dutch operations in a 50-50 joint venture in February, combining Ziggo’s fixed network with Vodafone’s mobile platform. Between them the pair reach over 15 revenue-generating units, including 4.2 million video, 3.2 million broadband, 2.6 million fixed telephony and 5.3 million mobile customers.