Nexfibre Challenges CMA Over Blocked Netomnia Acquisition
Nexfibre will contest the Competition and Markets Authority's opposition to its 2 billion pound acquisition of Netomnia, rejecting the regulator's claims about market competition.
Nexfibre, a joint venture between Liberty Global, Telefonica, and InfraVia, is challenging the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) following the regulator's opposition to its 2 billion pound acquisition of Netomnia. The CMA argued that the purchase of Britain's second-largest alternative fibre network operator could substantially reduce competition in the market.
As an alternative, the CMA suggested that rival CityFibre would be a more suitable buyer to create a stronger challenger to BT's Openreach. Nexfibre rejected this reasoning, stating that the regulator's assumptions regarding the UK fibre market and the potential for a CityFibre acquisition are not credible.
Nexfibre described the CMA's interim report as "fundamentally flawed" and argued that its conclusions rely on counterfactuals that do not reflect commercial and financial realities. Rather than submitting remedies to address the regulator's concerns, Nexfibre has decided to contest the decision.
