EC approves Vodafone’s bid for Kabel Deutschland
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EC approves Vodafone’s bid for Kabel Deutschland

The European Commission (EC) in Brussels has approved Vodafone’s takeover bid for Kabel Deutschland.

The UK’s Vodafone Group has offered €7.7 billion for the German company and earlier this month the bid was approved by Kabel Deutschland’s shareholders.

Regulators at the EC said in a statement last Friday that “an investigation confirmed that the activities of the merging parties were mainly complementary” and the takeover would not considerably alter competition.

The assumed acquisition is expected to boost Vodafone’s offerings in the German market and allow it to compete more aggressively with market-leader and rival Deutsche Telekom.

Jens Schulte-Bockum, chairman of Vodafone’s German arm, told local reporters that his company would soon be able to offer “landline and cellphone services, broadband, internet and television, all in one package”.

Kabel Deutschland is operational in 13 of 16 German states and Vodafone has already secured over 75% of the cable company’s shares.

According to local reports, the deal could provisionally complete on October 14.

The acquisition follows the sale of Vodafone’s 45% stake in Verizon Wireless earlier this month.

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