EU Antitrust Chief Almunia: Indicates Approval For Liberty Takeover of Ziggo

FLORENCE, Italy--The European Union's antitrust chief said he doesn't expect to block any more mergers before he leaves office at the end of October, indicating that his agency is set to approve Liberty Global PLC's 4.9 billion euro ($6.3 billion) takeover of Dutch cable operator Ziggo.

"I don't expect any other negative decisions (on mergers) until the end of October," Joaquin Almunia said in a speech here.

The European Commission, which acts as the EU's central antitrust authority, opened a detailed investigation of Liberty's purchase of Ziggo in May, warning that the deal could increase the merged entity's negotiation power towards content owners and TV channel suppliers. A decision on the case is due by Nov. 3.

The commission is also reviewing Facebook's $19 billion purchase of messaging system WhatsApp. Mr. Almunia is due to decide by Oct. 3 whether to approve the deal or open a more detailed investigation if he sees potential risks to competition. The latter course would likely leave a final decision to Mr. Almunia's successor, former Danish economy minister Margrethe Vestager.

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