Telefonica seeks EU okay to buy KPN's German unit
The headquarters of German mobile phone operator E-Plus Group is pictured in Duesseldorf July 24, 2013. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay · Reuters · Reuters

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Telefonica has asked EU antitrust regulators to clear its planned 8.6-billion-euro (7.2 billion pounds) takeover of KPN's German unit E-Plus, which will reinforce the Spanish telecoms provider against rivals Deutsche Telekom and Vodafone. The deal will boost Telefonica's share of German mobile service revenues to about 30 percent, behind leaders Deutsche Telekom and Vodafone. The European Commission said on its website it would decide by December 6 whether to approve the deal, which will reduce the number of mobile operators in Germany to three from four, a scenario which typically alarms competition regulators. Analysts say the preliminary review is likely to extend into an in-depth investigation which could take up to five months. Telefonica could allay competition concerns by divesting spectrum and making it easy for rivals to access its network. (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee, Editing by Robert-Jan Bartunek and Mark Potter)