EU Clears Acquisition

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- The European Commission has cleared under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of the telecommunications company Orange Netherlands by T-Mobile Netherlands, belonging to the Deutsche Telekom group. The Commission concluded that the transaction would not significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area (EEA) or any substantial part of it.

T-Mobile Netherlands is a Dutch Mobile Network Operator ("MNO") ultimately controlled by Deutsche Telekom. Its mobile arm T-Mobile International concentrates on mobile telecommunications markets in Western and Central Europe and the U.S.

Orange Nederland N.V. ("ONL") and Orange Nederland Breedband B.V. ("ONB"), together Orange Netherlands and currently belonging to France Télécom, are Dutch telecom companies. ONL is a mobile network operator offering mobile services to retail and business customers with a national network covering 99.9% of the Dutch population. OBB provides broadband services including high-speed internet and Voice over IP.

Under the proposed transaction, T-Mobile would acquire sole control of ONL and OBB. Following the merger, T-Mobile would become the second-largest operator in terms of subscribers and the third-largest operator in terms of revenue. Market leader in terms of both revenues and subscribers remains KPN, whereas the new entity would be of a similar strength to Vodafone.

T-Mobile Netherlands