Austrian takeover is a touchstone for telecoms dealmakers
2013
Austria
Hutchison
Orange
Iliad
merger
[External article, The Financial Times, subscription required]
February 2013
Once the merger was crowned and three operators were left standing, it took a matter of days for something rare and unusual to jolt Austria’s cut-throat mobile phone business: prices started to rise. “We warned that prices would rise,” says Theodor Thanner, Austria’s competition regulator who questioned the EU approving Hutchison’s takeover of Orange last year. “Our forecast has been fulfilled”. Citing Rewheel research.