The CJEU annuls the ruling that gave way to the purchase of O2 by Hutchinson

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The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has urged the General Court to rule again on the ruling that annulled the European Commission's decision to block the acquisition of Telefónica Europa (now O2) by Hutchison 3G UK Investments, owner of three . Thus, the ruling annuls the ruling that gave way to the purchase of Telefónica Europa by Hutchinson 3G, which Brussels vetoed a few years ago. The CJEU considers that the Commission made errors when interpreting the merger regulation, since it "imposed a requirement of proof" without basis in the current regulations. Furthermore, it criticizes the General Court for having made a restrictive interpretation, "incompatible" with the regulation. File photo of a general view of the access to the Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg EFE Likewise, it considers that the first judgment erred in comparing the offer of Hutchison 3G - now CK Telecoms - for O2 UK with the other concentration issues examined by the Commission and also in failing to carry out an overall assessment of the factors and conclusions.

Verify whether the Commission had demonstrated the existence of a significant impediment to effective competition. The CJEU also considers that the Commission did carry out an assessment of a possible Job Function Email Database degradation of the quality of the entity's network resulting from the planned concentration and that the General Court distorted its decision by declaring that no such assessment had been carried out. Thus, given the magnitude, nature and scope of the errors committed by the General Court, which affect the entirety of its reasoning, the Court of Justice annuls the judgment under appeal and refers the matter back to the General Court, which will retry this dispute in in its entirety taking into account all the clarifications provided by the Court of Justice in the context of the appeal. Three UK and O2 EU antitrust authorities say deal could drive up prices The telecoms industry is closely following the case, as a Hutchison victory could make it harder for EU antitrust regulators to block mergers that reduce the number of mobile operators in a country.



The CJEU ruling comes after the telecommunications company agreed last month to merge Three UK with Vodafone's UK business for £17.546 billion. In 2016, retired billionaire Li Ka-shing's Hutchinson conglomerate aimed to become Britain's largest mobile telecommunications network operator by combining Three UK with Telefónica's O2 to better compete with BT's EE and Vodafone, but was met with opposition from EU regulators. EU antitrust authorities said the deal, which would have reduced the number of mobile operators from four to three, could drive up prices. Hutchison appealed the EU veto. In its 2020 ruling, the General Court overturned the EU decision, raising the bar for regulators to block mergers that impede competition and prompting the European Commission to appeal to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). . , based in Luxembourg.