Vodafone to sell Dutch fixed line arm to T-Mobile
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Vodafone to sell Dutch fixed line arm to T-Mobile

Vodafone has agreed to offload its Dutch fixed line operations to Deutsche Telekom subsidiary T-Mobile Nederland as a concession for its merger with Ziggo.

The operator did not disclose a fee for the deal for Vodafone Thuis, which will see around 150,000 customers transfer to T-Mobile, in order to appease regulators currently assessing the merger.

Liberty Global subsidiary Ziggo, which is the country’s biggest cable provider, will be merged with Vodafone’s Dutch mobile arm, the second biggest behind KPN, in a deal that was announced in May.

The €3.5 billion joint venture will be headed up by former Vodafone UK CEO Jeroen Hoencamp and will see the creation of a significant competitor for incumbent KPN.

The EU gave conditional approval for the merger in August, after the firm’s agreed to minor concessions which included the divestment of some assets.

A statement from Vodafone said: “The divestment of Vodafone Thuis was a commitment offered by Vodafone Group Plc and Liberty Global plc to the European Commission as a condition of clearance of the merger of Vodafone Netherlands and Ziggo in the Netherlands.

“Vodafone Thuis has approximately 150,000 consumer fixed broadband customers. The transaction is conditional on approval from the Dutch competition authority, the European Commission approving T-Mobile Netherlands Holding B.V. as a suitable purchaser of Vodafone Thuis and consultations with Works Councils. The transaction is expected to close in December 2016.”


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