Liberty Global's $805 million purchase of Poland cable giant Aster received governmental approval Sept. 6, on the condition that Liberty divests some of its overlapping properties in the country.
Liberty Global announced its intention to acquire Aster, the second largest cable operator in Poland with about 368,000 video customers, on Dec. 6. In a statement Sept. 6, Poland's regulatory authority UOKiK said it would approve the deal as long as Liberty divests part of its network in Warsaw and Krakow. Liberty already owns the largest cable operator in the country - UPC Polska - and combined with Aster would control between 50% and 60% of the market in the two cities. UOKiK said that for the deal to go through, Liberty would have to reduce that control to no more than 40% within 18 months.
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