By Foo Yun Chee
BRUSSELS (Reuters) -EU antitrust regulators will investigate whether U.S. investment firm KKR provided incorrect or misleading information in its 22 billion euro ($26 billion) acquisition of Telecom Italia’s (TIM) fixed-line network deal, the European Commission said on Thursday.
The Commission, which acts as the competition enforcer in the 27-country bloc, approved the deal unconditionally in May last year, attributing this in part to long-term agreements between FiberCop and telecoms companies Fastweb and Iliad.
FiberCop is Telecom Italia’s last-mile grid unit.
“Under the investigation opened today, the Commission will assess whether KKR provided incorrect or misleading information about these agreements,” the EU watchdog said in a statement.
KKR said it would work with the Commission to address any concerns.
“As part of the transaction clearance, we worked with the European Commission in good faith and provided specific and accurate information, and FiberCop continues to adhere to customer commitments and economic regulation governed by AGCOM,” it said in a statement, referring to the independent Italian communications regulatory authority.
The Commission has in recent years cracked down on companies providing misleading information during merger reviews and handed out hefty fines.
(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
