Askume, Sept 12 – Italy’s competition regulator has launched an in-depth investigation under Italian merger control rules to assess Swisscom’s (SCMN.S) acquisition of Vodafone Italia, Swisscom said on Thursday.
Swisscom SCMN.S acquired Vodafone in March (VOD.L) 8 billion euros ($8.8 billion) . The company plans to merge the business with its existing Italian subsidiary Fastweb, consolidating one of Europe’s most competitive telecoms markets.
The alliance will make it Italy’s second-largest fixed-line broadband operator after Telecom Italia (TIM) (TLIT.MI) .
Swisscom said such antitrust investigations are “not uncommon in the telecoms industry” and that it “believes the deal is good for competition.”
He said he still expected the deal to close in the first quarter of next year.
“We will continue to work closely and constructively with the Italian competition authorities to ensure timely approval,” Swisscom said in a statement.
Analysts saw limited risk of the deal being blocked, but also highlighted the possibility of potential measures relating to the commercial sector, where Vodafone and Fastweb have large market shares.
“We do not see a significant increase in the risk of the deal’s failure,” Intesa Sanpaolo analyst Andrea DeVita wrote in a daily note.
“At the same time, the current deadline for completing the deal could be at risk if potential measures are negotiated,” he said.
