EU approves Altice's Portugal Telecom deal
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EU approves Altice's Portugal Telecom deal

The European Commission has approved Altice’s €7.4 billion acquisition of Portugal Telecom’s Portuguese assets.

The deal, which was announced in November 2014, will bolster Altice's presence in Portugal. This is the third major acquisition by Altice following its purchases of SFR and Virgin France in 2014. 

In January 2015, 97% of Portugal Telecom's shareholders voted in favour of the sale of the Portuguese assets to Altice. The deal marks the end of an unsuccessful attempt to merge Portugal Telecom with Brazil's Oi into a single transatlantic company.

In order to win approval for the purchase of Portugal Telecom, Altice has offered to sell its cable businesses Cabovisao and Oni. The EC had expressed concern that the merged group would impede competition in Portugal.

"The Commission concluded that the transaction, as modified by the commitments, would raise no competition concerns," said the EC. 

"The European Commission has authorised the acquisition proposed by Portuguese telecoms operator PT Portugal under European merger legislation," Altice said in a statement.  

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