Hutchison 3G Austria Acquisition of Orange Austria

In December 2012, the European Commission cleared the acquisition by Hutchison 3G of Orange Austria, subject to remedies. The transaction combined two of the four mobile communications network operators in the Austrian market. The clearance followed a Phase II investigation, during which the Commission issued a statement of objections opposing the merger. The remedies concern commitments to divest spectrum and to provide mobile virtual network operators access to the merged entity’s network. Compass Lexecon’s Jorge Padilla, Elena Zoido, and Thilo Klein supported Hutchison 3G and its legal advisers, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP. Compass Lexecon submitted several papers to the Commission, assessing, among other things, the Commission’s analysis of the “Upward Pricing Pressure” (UPP) generated by the merger. This is one of the first cases in which the Commission relied on the UPP method. Compass Lexecon worked with Thomas Wessely, Axel Reidlinger, and Bertram Burtscher of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP.