Vodafone's proposal to acquire CWW approved by Europe

Vodafone Group's proposed acquisition of Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CWW) has won the approval of European Union (EU) regulators.

Five weeks after the acquisition proposal was submitted to Brussels, the European Commission has ruled that the merger is acceptable. The UK-based company's EU agreement comes with no conditions or limitations imposed on the communications corporation.

In a statement, the European Commission said it believed that the purchase of Cable & Wireless Worldwide would raise "no competition concerns, as the parties’ activities are largely complementary. CWW's main activity is related to fixed telecoms, whereas Vodafone is mainly active in mobile telecoms".

However, the Commission did acknowledge there is some overlap of business practices by the two companies in the UK, but implied that as the companies merge, local markets were unlikely to suffer -- due to the fierce competition in the mobile and home communications industry.

In April this year, Vodafone stated it has reached an agreement to purchase CWW for £1.044bn ($1.6bn) in cash. CWW's fibre network was an enticing prospect, as UK consumer demand for data usage continues to grow.

At the time of the announcement, Vodafone Group CEO Vittorio Colao said:

"The acquisition of Cable & Wireless Worldwide creates a leading integrated player in the enterprise segment of the UK communications market and brings attractive cost savings to our UK and international operations."

The deal will make Vodafone the UK's second largest telecoms company.