International telecommunications and television company Liberty Global vowed to exhaust all legal remedies to fight the overturning of a regulatory approval for its Unity Media Kabel BW acquisition. A higher court in Dusseldort nullified the clearance given to Liberty by the Federal Cartel Office in Germany, which would have allowed them to proceed with the purchase of the cable firm. The takeover was worth EUR 3.16 billion.
The Regional Court said that the Federal Cartel Office would have to evaluate the takeover again. The court ruled, "The concessions provided for by the Federal Cartel Office aren't fit to make up for the increase of the market dominating position because of the merger."
It can be recalled that the German Cartel Office gave its thumbs up to Liberty in 2011 after the television firm satisfied the regulator's conditions. No appeal would be entertained by the court that issued the ruling. Unity Media Kabel, however, would still be able to appeal to the decision by filing a complaint with the Federal Court of Justice.
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