The Hungarian Competition Authority (GVH) has withdrawn its permission for Digi to acquire Invitel, the country’s leading alternative telco.
In a statement, it says that it has taken the decision due to a misleading disclosure, for which it has imposed a fine of HUF90 million (€280,000).
GVH adds that it has also initiated a new procedure aimed at re-evaluating the markets affected by the deception. At the same time, and at the request of the two parties and taking into account their economic interest and the continuity of subscribers’ services, the GVH has also authorised the merger of the two businesses to continue pending the closure of the new procedure.
The GVH notes that it approved the acquisition of Invitel by Digi in May 2018. As a condition, it required i-TV, a company belonging to Digi that leases cable networks to show content from the Digi group, to not operate in areas in which Invitel also provided parallel services.
Although GVH was led to believe there was an overlap of services in 23 locations, following an investigation it found the true figure to be 89.
As previously reported by Broadband TV News, the Digi/Invitel deal, worth some €140.8 million and involving the latter’s retail and small business customers, was first announced in July 2017.