The European Commission has approved Orange Belgium’s acquisition of 75 percent of VOO SA, a Belgian internet, TV, mobile and telephone operator. The decision validates the commitments to address market dominance taken by Orange Belgium, according to the European Commission.
“Commitments [made by Orange Belgium] fully address the competition concerns identified by the European Commission. It therefore concluded that the proposed transaction, as modified by the commitments, would no longer raise competition concerns,” the European Commission said.
Orange Belgium is pleased that the final phase of the buyout is now underway towards the closing of the transaction, expected to take place by the end of Q2 2023.
“After more than 25 years of Orange’s presence in Belgium, the acquisition of VOO is a major step and will enable us to operate a very high-speed network in Wallonia and part of Brussels, thereby reinforcing the deployment of our convergent multigigabit strategy at a national level,” said Xavier Pichon, CEO at Orange Belgium. “Our ambitious investment plan, in combination with VOO’s and Orange’s skills and expertise, will strengthen the quality of our offers to the customers and ensure competitiveness in the Walloon and Brussels regions.”
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