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Orange-MasMovil concerns
THE European Commission announced its preliminary view that the OrangeMasMovil merger could reduce competition and lead to price increases.
Orange and MasMovil are Spain’s second and fourthlargest providers of retail mobile and fixed internet services in Spain, the Commission pointed out.
“There are four mobile network operators active in Spain: Telefónica, Vodafone, Orange, and MasMovil,” the statement continued. “There are also several mobile and virtual operators which use network operators’ infrastructure to offer services to consumers.”
The Commission opened an indepth
Deep waters
THE UK government and water regulator Ofwat have drawn up contingency plans for the collapse of Thames Water.
Fears have grown that Britain’s biggest water company cannot survive owing to its £14 billion (€16.18 billion) debt.
Ministers and Ofwat discussed the possibility of placing Thames Water into a special administration regime (SAR) by taking the company into temporary public ownership.
In a statement to the stock market, Thames Water said it had received £500m (€577.8m) of an expected £1 billion (€1.15 billion) in new funding from shareholders in March. It continued to work constructively with them, it added.
investigation which included, amongst other issues, analysing internal documents provided by the two phone companies and gathering views from competitors, suppliers and customers.
Spain’s top 10
INDITEX is once again Spain’s bestrespected company, according to corporate monitor Merco.
The multinational, which is headquartered in Arteixo (Galicia) and owns Zara amongst other labels, headed the list for 10 consecutive years until 2022 when it was overtaken by Mercadona.
The supermarket chain returns to second place, ahead of Grupo Social Once, the organisation for the blind, and Repsol, which rose two places to fourth position.
Insurance company Mapfre remains in fifth place, followed by Telefónica fourth last year but now sixth.
Coca Cola moves up one place to be ranked seventh, while Ikea goes down one place to eighth position.
Santander has now entered the top 10, moving up from 11th to ninth place, with new arrival Mahou San Miguel, now ranked 10th compared with 13th in 2022.
MasMovil and Orange announced their intention of merging in a 5050 joint venture valued at €18.6 billion in July 2022. Both companies count on obtaining clearance from the Commission’s Competition authorities in the second half of 2023, launching the merged company between 24 and 42 months later.
The Commission announced at the end of June it was concerned that reducing the number of network operations in Spain would “eliminate a significant competitive constraint and innovative rival” in the Spanish retail markets for mobile telecommunications services.
Action plan
THE Financial Action Task Force (FATF) commented recently that Gibraltar continued to make headway on its action plan.
The global moneylaundering and terrorist financing watchdog also called on Gibraltar’s government to address ‘strategic deficiencies’ in financial regulation.
In response, the government emphasised that it was working tirelessly to complete the action plan at the earliest opportunity.
“Only one substantive action point remains pending,” a government statement announced.
“The government is totally committed to this process, and all supervisory and other authorities continue to work with FATF to demonstrate our compliance,” the communique declared.
The agreement will have a €22.5 million negative impact on DIA’s income although chief executive Martin Tolcachir maintained the sale was a strategic move. “We want to focus on what we do best: local food distribution,” he said.
Speaking on June 27, Tolcachir said the transaction, was expected to be completed this year.
Fair shares
REVOLUTION BEAUTY, ‘affordable’ make up brand, gave bosses 11 million shares although shareholders voted them out.
Chief executive Bob Holt, finance chief Elizabeth Lake and other senior executives will receive more than 11 million shares between them, worth almost £3 million (€3.4 million) based on the company’s share price on June 28.
The handout was the outcome of restoring the firm’s listing after an accounting scandal resulted in its suspension from the stock market.
Holt and Lake, together with chairman Derek Zissman who was also sacked have now been reinstated.
