Swisscom’s Vodafone Italia takeover cleared by Italian telecoms authority

Swisscom is one step closer to its planned acquisition of Vodafone Italia, as the Italian communications regulator has approved the €8 billion (CHF7.5 billion) deal. Italy’s communications authority, AGCOM, has approved the takeover of Vodafone Italia, assessing its impact on the competitive and pluralistic structure of the Italian audiovisual media services market. Swisscom announced in a press release on Wednesday that there were no reservations. +Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox Swisscom still requires two more approvals to finalise the major takeover. Alongside the Italian antitrust authority, AGCM, the Ministry for Enterprise and Made in Italy must also give its consent. The crucial approval is from AGCM, which began an in-depth Phase II review of the takeover two months ago. Critical comments from the antitrust authorities The antitrust watchdogs were critical, warning of a potential threat to competition in their report. According to the authority ...