The Swiss Parliament intervenes in the sale of Vodafone Italia

It was already known that Vodafone was showcasing parts of its business, but Switzerland's interest in key questions from Parliament does not make the process any easier.

Supervisors' approval

Approval is required for any purchase, merger or consolidation of major companies. This permission is granted by a national supervisor. If the intended deal is of an international nature, regulators from all countries in which the companies are active must give the green light. If an agreement is not reached somewhere, the entire deal will not happen. How to do this is explained in this article.

Approval for purchases, mergers, and the like must be obtained before completing the deal. For this reason, it is always stated at the bottom of each notice that the entire press release is subject to change. The process of requesting and obtaining permission takes place outside the press. For understandable reasons, each moderator is tight-lipped about the details, but who made the request is always known.

Swisscom – Vodafone Italy

In addition to motivation from directly involved parties, the press and politicians are always able to know what is going on on a large scale, which brings us to the case of Swisscom and Vodafone Italy.

Swiss telecommunications, internet and TV company Swisscom wants to make an exclusive offer for Vodafone Italia. The British mother will be happy if this offer goes ahead, because eight billion euros have been offered, and this money is badly needed to relieve the unhealthy high debt burden.

For Swisscom, a mobile operator in Italy will be a welcome addition to its offering. It wants to integrate the new business with Fastweb, an Internet service provider from the Milan area.

Challenges

However, two challenges emerge. The Swiss company is 51 percent owned by the government (source). A semi-governmental company expanding its presence in another country can lead to problems in that country. However, this is not the case yet. However, it has become clear that Swiss state interests could be at risk if a foreign footprint costs money and resources.

Or in other words: every Swiss franc required for the purchase and subsequent integration process can no longer be spent on installing and maintaining transmission towers and fiber optics in the home country. According to some politicians, Swisscom may not be able to meet legal obligations regarding access and quality in its country.

Policy vs admin

So here we see a new variation on the theme of issues surrounding takeovers. Because Vodafone has so much to offer, Switzerland will not be the only country where politicians are raising questions about whether the incumbent should do so. The questions they ask are completely separate from the process of getting permission from moderators. If politics get in the way, a deal that gets the green light from the regulator may become de facto impossible.