UK watchdogs to have final say on £31bn merger between the firms behind O2 and Virgin Media

UK watchdogs to have final say on £31bn merger between the firms behind O2 and Virgin Media

UK watchdogs will get the final say in a £31 billion merger between the firms behind O2 and Virgin Media

UK watchdogs will get the final say in a £31 billion merger between the firms behind O2 and Virgin Media. 

The Competition and Markets Authority will review the planned tie-up between Telefonica and Liberty Global after Brus- sels-based regulators handed over the reins ahead of the UK’s exit from the EU. 

Under European law, the biggest mergers are generally dealt with by the commission’s regulators in Brussels. But the European Commission allowed the CMA to deal with potential concerns because the deal ‘threatens to affect com- petition in the telecommunications sector in the UK’.