Watchdog delays approval of Norlys acquisition of Telia Danmark

Source: Norlys

Denmark’s competition watchdog has pushed back approval of service provider Norlys’ planned acquisition of Telia Danmark by launching a phase 2 probe.

Norlys said that it and Telia were involved in close dialogue with the regulator, the Danish Competition and Consumer Authority, and that the to parties still expect to be able to complete the acquisition in the first quarter of next year.

At the end of September, Norlys’ board of representatives has approved the company’s decision to buy Telia Danmark, an acquisition that will give its telecom arm a mobile play, enabling it to offer a full range of multi-play service to compete with the likes of Nuuday.

Norlys signed a definitive agreement with Telia Company earlier that month on the purchase of Telia’s Danish business, which includes approximately 1.9 million customer relationships and a 50% ownership of Denmark’s largest mobile network, the TT network.

The move came after the pair signed up to a preliminary agreement in April. The deal is expected to cost Norlys about DKK6.25 billion (€838 million), financed with funds from last year’s sale of a minority share of Norlys’ fibre business.

Norlys, which owns the former Stofa cable operator network as well as its own fibre networks, aims to use the acquisition to create a competitor in mobile and fixed telecoms with national scale.

Telia Denmark’s business includes approximately 1.5 million customer relationships and a 50% ownership of the TT network, which is Denmark’s largest mobile network.