Vodafone Group confirmed it expects to receive European Commission (EC) approval for its €18.4 billion acquisition of Liberty Global assets in central and eastern Europe in mid-2019, after receiving the regulator’s list of objections.

Although the details of the document were not outlined by the operator and have yet to be made public by the EC, by sticking with its original timeline the company does not appear to be overly concerned about any issues raised.

In a statement, Vodafone said it would review the document and continue “constructive dialogue” with the EC.

The acquisition includes Liberty Global’s fixed and cable businesses in Germany, Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania. At the time of the announcement Deutsche Telekom CEO Timotheus Hoettges was extremely critical of the potential acquisition and called on competition officials to block it.

Vodafone’s CEO Nick Read and predecessor Vittorio Colao, who was in charge when the deal was struck, have regularly voiced their confidence the deal raised no competition issues in any of the markets involved.

Last month Reuters reported the EC would formally lay out its objections by 3 June with expectations Vodafone would offer concessions to push the deal through.