The EU General Court dismisses a French telecommunications company’s action against the Commission’s decision to impose two fines totalling €124.5M in connection to its acquisition of a Portuguese competitor (Altice / PT Portugal)

The General Court dismisses Altice Europe’s action against the Commission decision imposing two fines totalling €124.5 million in connection with the acquisition of PT Portugal* However, it orders the amount of the fine relating to the breach of the obligation to notify the concentration to the Commission be reduced by €6.22 million Altice Europe NV (‘Altice’) is a multinational cable and telecommunications company. PT Portugal SGPS SA (‘PT Portugal’) is a telecommunications and multimedia operator with activities extending across the entire telecommunications sector in Portugal. On 9 December 2014 Altice concluded a share purchase agreement (‘SPA’) with a view to obtaining sole control of PT Portugal through its subsidiary Altice Portugal SA. Since that acquisition required