The European Commission has greenlighted French telecoms group Orange S.A. (ENXTPA:ORA) and Spanish peer MásMóvil Ibercom, S.A.'s deal to merge their operations in Spain, after the two parties offered remedies to alleviate its competition concerns. The EU anti-trust watchdog's in-depth probe into the transaction revealed that it could lessen competition in the retail markets for the supply of mobile and fixed Internet services in Spain and result in over 10% price increases for consumers, the EC said in a statement. Masmovil has committed to divesting spectrum across three frequency spectrum bands to Romania's Digi, which will be thus able to build its own mobile network.

In addition, Digi will have the option to enter a national roaming agreement, the press release said. "The commitments offered by the parties will enable Digi, the largest and fastest-growing mobile virtual network operator in Spain, to replicate the strong competitive pressure exerted by Masmovil," said Margrethe Vestager, executive vice-president in charge of competition policy. In a separate statement, announcing the EU decision, Orange and Masmovil said they expect to complete the deal by the end of the first quarter of 2024.

The transaction, which was agreed in July 2022, values the combined entity at EUR 18.6 billion (USD 20.1bn). The merger will form a joint venture equally controlled by Orange and Masmovil.