Assessment of Competitive Effects of Liberty Global / Corelio / De Vijver Media Acquisition

In February 2015, the European Commission cleared the proposed acquisition of joint control of television channels Vier en Vijf (held by Belgian media company De Vijver Media NV) by Telenet (a cable company controlled by Liberty Global) and Corelio. The European Commission approved the merger after a Phase II investigation subject to commitments which obliged De Vijver to license its channels to TV distributors in Belgium under fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms.

Compass Lexecon advised a third party regarding the impact on competition of the proposed acquisition. The acquisition led to vertical concerns as De Vijver Media could refuse to license its channels Vier and Vijf to TV distributors competing with Telenet, making it harder for them to attract and retain customers, or to enter the market at all. The Compass Lexecon team included Justin Coombs and Urs Haegler.