EU regulators to rule on Viasat's Inmarsat takeover by Feb. 13

EU antitrust regulators will decide by Feb. 13 whether to clear US company Viasat's $7.3b takeover of satellite rival Inmarsat, a EC 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 defence customers in North America while Inmarsat's clients include the shipping and aviation sectors as well as government departments.<br/>