LONDON (ShareCast) - (ShareCast News) - The European Commission has approved Vivendi's acquisition of Telecom Italia, subject to the latter's divestment of its stake in broadcasting services group Persidera.
The EC pointed out that France's Vivendi holds a significant minority stake in Mediaset, which is also active in the market for the wholesale access to digital terrestrial networks for the broadcast of TV channels.

The antitrust watchdog found that following the deal, Vivendi would have had an incentive to raise prices charged to TV channels in the market for wholesale access to digital terrestrial television networks, where Persidera and Mediaset each hold a significant share.

"The benefits of such a strategy would be obtained either directly through Persidera or indirectly via the minority shareholding in Mediaset, since other players active in the market do not represent a viable alternative for TV channels. As a result, TV channels would have found it more expensive to reach their audiences in Italy."

The Commission also investigated whether the relationship between Vivendi's activities in Italy in advertising, music, TV and mobile gaming and Telecom Italia's activities in fixed and mobile telecommunications raised competition concerns. It concluded that Vivendi would not have the ability or incentive to shut out other competitors from the relevant markets.

At1552 BST, Vivendi shares were down 0.7% to €19.38 and Telecom Italia was down 2% to €0.83.

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