EU Oks Comcast-NBCU Merger
July 14, 2010
| 11:11 AM
The European Commission Wednesday approved Comcast's merger with NBC Universal, saying it would not thwart effective competition in the European Union's member states.
In a statement, the commission noted that Comcast owns no cable assets in the EU. The commission, the EU's regulatory arm, said that in the EU the merger "leads to horizontal overlaps between the activities of Comcast, MGM and NBC Universal in various markets for the licensing of TV programs to pay-TV and free TV operators, the sale of online advertising space, the production of motion pictures for theatrical distribution and the sale of home entertainment content."
However, the commission said that unlike in the U.S., in the EU the merger wouldn't lead to a vertical relationship between Comcast's cable distribution platform and NBC Universal's programming content.
Overall, the commission said it determined that the merged company's market share would remain very limited in the EU.
The merger is staunchly opposed by some U.S. consumer and public interest groups and others who claim the transaction will lead to higher prices, fewer choices and less competition in the United States.
The merger is still being reviewed in the United States by the FCC and Justice Department.
R. Dale Grimes, who heads the antitrust and trade practice at the Bass, Berry & Sims law firm, said he doubts the EU's decision on the merger will have much influence on the U.S. approval process.
"The EU focused on the fact that Comcast and NBC have a minor presence in its jurisdiction so the merger would have little effect on competition," Grimes said. "In the U.S., Comcast and NBC obviously have a much more significant presence and so the facts are very different."
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