Whilst Altice is required to spin off its current Portuguese holdings, ONI and Cabovisão, the Commission gave the green light for the deal to go through without any further scrutiny from the Portuguese competition authorities.


The statement explained its decision as resulting from fears that the takeover would see a lack of competitive pressure on behalf of the remaining companies in the fixed phone market and might lead to unnecessary price rises for clients.


Hence, “to eliminate these concerns, Altice proposed the sale of its Portuguese subsidiaries Cabovisão and ONI” the statement read before concluding that their sale would “totally eliminate the overlapping activities of Altice and PT Portugal.”


Meeting the terms of the agreement reached meant that this removed the need for further scrutiny by the Portuguese competition authorities whilst committing to maintaining “close cooperation.”


With approval from Brussels secured, Altice is now in a position to advance with its €7.4 billion takeover of PT Portugal and its respective service providers under the brands Meo and Sapo.