Last Monday, John Malone's US cable giant Liberty Global has received unconditional European Union regulatory apprival for the takeover of Virgin Media. The US$15.8 billion deal would now place the group directly against British satellite television operations BSkyB of Ruper Murdoch.
The decision confirms the earlier report by Reuters that the European Commisson did not have any competition issues as to the takeover. This decision was reached because the companies operated networks in different European Union countries. Furthermore, the merged group's limited market position in wholesale television channel services in both Britain and Ireland did not raise any red flags for the merger. This was done after a review of the vertical linkages between Liberty Global's activities vis a vis the wholesale supply of pay-TV channels.
The transaction, despite the approval, is still subject to majority approval from both companies. According to Virgin Media spokes person Marcus Smith, "The respective shareholder meetings, as well as th closing of the transaction, are expected to occur in the second quarter of 2013."
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