Competition News May 2016

Divesture commitments in a merger operation: reminder to maintain the profitability of the transferred business

On April 19, 2016, the French Competition Authority (FCA) once again punished the failure to respect the divesture commitments made in the context of a merger operation.

On October 30, 2014, the FCA had authorized SFR's takeover by the Altice group subject to commitments. In particular, the parties had undertaken to transfer the Outremer Télécom business (OMT), SFR's direct competitor in Réunion and Mayotte. Pending its effective transfer, OMT was to be managed separately and the parties were supposed to maintain "the economic viability, market value and competitiveness of the transferred business".