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BRUSSELS (Reuters) – EU antitrust regulators will decide by Feb. 13 whether to clear U.S. company Viasat’s $7.3 billion takeover of satellite rival Inmarsat, a European Commission filing showed on Monday.
The deal is already the target of an in-depth investigation by the UK competition watchdog, concerned that it could block competition in the aviation connectivity market and potentially result in airlines facing higher prices for on-board Wi-Fi.
The EU antitrust enforcer can either clear the deal with or without remedies or it can open a full-scale investigation if it has serious concerns about the tie-up.
The companies compete with market leaders Panasonic (OTC:PCRFY) and Intelsat in the market for in-flight Wi-Fi on long-haul flights.
Viasat offers connectivity services to residential, aviation and defence customers in North America while Inmarsat’s clients include the shipping and aviation sectors as well as government departments.
