EU Regulators to Rule on Viasat's Inmarsat Takeover by Feb. 13

EU antitrust regulators will decide by Feb. 13 whether to clear U.S. company Viasat’s $7.3 billion takeover of satellite rival Inmarsat, a European Commission filing showed on Monday.

The deal is already the target of an in-depth investigation by the UK competition watchdog, concerned that it could block competition in the aviation connectivity market and potentially result in airlines facing higher prices for on-board Wi-Fi.

The EU antitrust enforcer can either clear the deal with or without remedies or it can open a full-scale investigation if it has serious concerns about the tie-up.

The companies compete with market leaders Panasonic and Intelsat in the market for in-flight Wi-Fi on long-haul flights.

Viasat offers connectivity services to residential, aviation and defense customers in North America while Inmarsat’s clients include the shipping and aviation sectors as well as government departments.

(Reuters - Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by David Goodman)