the-companies

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Hutchison Whampoa Ltd on Friday sought EU approval for its 10.25-billion-pound ($15.82 billion) bid for Telefonica's British mobile unit O2, the same day regulators unveiled a tougher approach towards mergers in the sector. The European Commission said it would decide by Oct. 16 whether to clear the deal, which would make Hutchison's Three UK business the second-biggest of the UK’s three remaining network operators. The EU competition authority could either clear the deal with or without conditions or open an extensive investigation if it has serious concerns.

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French media group Vivendi has entered exclusive talks to buy 80 percent of video-sharing website Dailymotion from telecom operator Orange for 217 million euros ($236 million), the companies said in a joint statement on Tuesday. Orange would keep the remaining 20 percent of the company as part of the deal, which corresponds to an enterprise value for Dailymotion of 265 million euros, the companies said. “Orange and Vivendi will now enter into a period of exclusive negotiations in order to finalize the terms of this operation,” the companies said. “For Orange … this operation meets the group's ambition to bring Dailymotion together with a strategic content-focused partner that is capable of giving it the means to accelerate its growth and to turn it into one of the world's largest content distribution platforms.” Orange said it will use the proceeds of this transaction to finance and reinforce its efforts in its digital business.