VimpelCom still confident that Italian merger will go through

Russian-owned, Netherlands-based telecoms group VimpelCom says it is confident that the merger of its Italian subsidiary Wind Telecomunicazioni with mobile market rival 3 Italia will go ahead as planned and complete by the end of this year, despite this week’s decision by the European Commission (EC) to block a similar deal between 3 and O2 in the UK. The EUR21.8 billion (USD25 billion) Italian merger would combine the country’s third and fourth largest cellcos, with the merged entity taking first place in the market ahead of Telecom Italia (TIM) and Vodafone. In March this year the EC opened an in-depth investigation into the proposed merger, voicing concerns that it could lead to higher prices for consumers.