T-Mobile Netherlands filed its proposed takeover of Tele2’s operations in the country with the European Commission (EC), which has set a deadline of 12 June to rule on the deal.

The deal, first announced in December last year, was positioned as a play to create a stronger third player in the Dutch market and increase the competition on current leaders KPN and VodafoneZiggo.

The proposed deal will see T-Mobile’s parent Deutsche Telekom take a 75 per cent majority ownership in the joint company, while Tele2 would retain the remaining 25 per cent.

At this stage, it is unclear if any remedies have been proposed to secure approval from the EC.

ACM involvement
Dutch regulator Authority for Consumer Markets (ACM), which is responsible for telecoms, consumer and competition regulation in the country, added in a statement it will work with the EC on the process.

“ACM will share its knowledge with the European Commission because of this planned acquisition’s significance for the Dutch market,” it said. “In addition, ACM will carry out market research that will be an important input for the European Commission in its assessment of the acquisition.”

Despite aiding the process, ACM added that it would not be requesting responsibility to take over the review process, adding that the “European Commission is best placed to assess this acquisition” because the European body is also reassessing the merger between Liberty Global and Ziggo.

Liberty Global was last month forced to resubmit a request for European regulators to approve its takeover of Ziggo, six months after initial clearance to the deal was annulled.

The deal was approved by the EC in 2015, but the original ruling was quashed by European parliament because of unresolved issues facing the Dutch pay-TV market.

It is unclear at this stage whether issues surrounding Liberty Global and Ziggo will have a bearing on the T-Mobile, Tele2 tie-up.