Spain: The Audiencia Nacional rejects several appeals against a decision of the Spanish Competition Authority approving a merger in the telecommunication sector, thus confirming the Spanish Competition Authority’s ample discretion in setting sufficient conditions (Telefonica)

The Audiencia Nacional has rejected the appeals brought by 7 telecommunications and television operators against a decision of the Spanish Competition Authority [“CNMC”] of 2015 which approved the acquisition by Telefonica of the exclusive control of Distribuidora de Televisión Digital [“DTS”], since they did not prove that the decision included errors or was unreasonable or arbitrary (Audiencia Nacional, judgments of 19 April 2021, appeals nº 406/2015, 411/2015, 418/2015, 419/2015, 420/2015, 436/2015 and 648/2015). In April 2015, after a process lasting nearly six months, the CNMC cleared the acquisition by Telefónica of a 56% stake in DTS, subject to a series of commitments aimed at overcoming the competition concerns arising from the transaction. Prior to this acquisition Telefónica