4 billion ($ 4.8 billion) deal to buy TNT Express NV, saying it was concerned about the merged company’s dominance in the worldwide delivery of small packages in some European markets.
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The agency said it has concerns that the merged entity could lead to higher prices for business customers and consumers.
In her quest to break down digital barriers in the 28-nation EU, Vestager has been very active, recently charging six top Hollywood studios and Sky TV of breaching antitrust laws by using movie licenses to block access to pay TV content in other countries in Europe.
FedEx’s proposed purchase of TNT Express faces an “in-depth investigation” by the European Commission because of concerns about the impact of less competition, the commission announced Friday. “This could lead to higher prices for business customers and consumers”, it added.
FedEx Corp. (FDX) confirmed today that the European Commission has initiated a Phase II review in connection with FedEx’s intended public offer to acquire all the issued and outstanding shares of TNT Express N.V. This is the next step in the process where the European Commission conducts an in-depth analysis under the EU Merger Regulation before coming to a decision. FedEx and TNT have previously expressed confidence they would win necessary regulatory clearances in Europe, China, Brazil and the United States, but have said the process could take up to a year.
FedEx said it remained confident the deal would be good for the marketplace.
The Brussels-based regulator set a December 8 deadline to rule on the deal.
The statement said that both FedEx and TNT expect the transaction to close in the first half of 2016, as they indicated back in April.
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TNT shares traded down about 1% after the announcement, while FedEx stock was up 0.2%.
