The Commission says that Altice, which also owns SFR in France and cable operators Cablevision and Suddenlink in the US, took control of Telecom PT before it was officially allowed to.
Altice said: “Altice does not agree with the European Commission's preliminary conclusions, and will submit a full response to the statement of objections and contest all the objections. The sending of a statement of objections does not prejudge the final outcome of the investigation.”
The company insisted that the Commission’s action does not reverse the €7.4 billion takeover. “The investigation proceedings do not affect the approval granted by the European Commission for the acquisition of PT Portugal by Altice,” the company said.
However Altice faces a fine of 10% of its €23.5 billion turnover if the Commission rejects the company’s position.
The Commission said it “takes the preliminary view that Altice actually implemented the acquisition prior to the adoption of the Commission’s clearance decision, and in some instances, prior to its notification.”
