Dutch cartel office blocks KPN

Dutch antitrust authority NMa Monday blocked Royal KPN NV's planned takeover of cable network company Caiway, saying such a deal would limit competition in the sector. KPN must request formal permission from NMa in order to continue with its plans to take over Caiway.A KPN spokesman said the Dutch telecom company is sticking to its plans and will ask authorities for a deeper investigation of the deal.SNS Securities, however, foresees no significant impact of the block on KPN, given the small size of Caiway-equivalent to just 0.5% of KPN's revenue.
Caiway is a relatively small cable network provider with around 143,000 clients. Market leader Ziggo serves 3.1 million TV households, while Liberty Global Inc.'s UPC counts around 2 million. KPN announced its intention to buy Caiway in May, but gave no financial details at the time.

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