Irish competition watchdog probes Phoenix-Cellnex acquisition

The acquisition is facing scrutiny over concerns that it may negatively impact competition in Ireland’s telecoms sector.

Ireland’s Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) has today (26 July) announced a Phase 2 investigation into Phoenix Tower International’s proposed acquisition of Cellnex’s Irish operations.

The acquisition was announced in March of this year, after Florida-headquartered Phoenix agreed to pay €971m for Cellnex’s telecoms infrastructure business in Ireland. Shortly after, the CCPC launched a preliminary probe into the deal, and has now determined that a “in-depth” investigation is required to establish whether the acquisition could substantially lessen competition in Ireland.

Barcelona-headquartered Cellnex began operating in Ireland after it acquired telecoms infrastructure company Cignal for €210m in 2019, while Phoenix first entered the Irish market in 2020 when it acquired Eir’s passive infrastructure portfolio.

Phoenix and Cellnex both operate passive telecoms infrastructure, including towers and masts, on which network operators can fix their active network infrastructure, including antennae and dishes. Customers for these companies include mobile network operators, wireless broadband network operators and emergency services.

During phase 2 of its investigation, the CCPC will continue to gather evidence from Phoenix and Cellnex, as well as from third parties. If the authority determines that the deal would substantially lessen competition, this view will be presented to the companies, which may then respond to the assessment.

As part of the investigation, the CCPC is inviting submissions from interested parties by email to mergers@ccpc.ie. The deadline for submissions is 15 August at 4.30pm.

Since acquiring Cignal, Cellnex has been very active in the Irish State, from tackling rural mobile blackspots to the roll-out of an IoT network. In early 2023, the company partnered with Dublin City University to improve 5G coverage across the university’s campuses.

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