T-Mobile Nederland acquires Tele2 in €190 million deal

Telecom provider T-Mobile Nederland is taking over the Dutch branch of competitor Tele2. T-Mobile is paying 190 million euros for this acquisition, the companies announced in a press release. The two telecom providers will continue under the banner of T-Mobile, NU.nl reports.

Only the Dutch branch of Tele2 is being sold. The Swedish parent company of Tele2 Nederland will possess a quarter of the new joint venture's share, T-Mobile takes the rest.

With this acquisition T-Mobile wants to be better competition for VodafoneZiggo and KPN. "The duo has had free play for far too long and so far they have gotten away with this game with only one loser: the customer", T-Mobile CEO Søren Abildgaard said. "By joining with Tele2, we can compete much more efficiently and offer Dutch customers an alternative."

​The competition authorities still have to approve the merger. This is expected to happen only around the end of next year, a spokesperson for T-Mobile said to NU.nl. "Until then we will simply remain competitors with each other."