Photograph: Ben Birchall/PAThe Government could next year increase the value at which businesses must inform regulators of mergers and acquisitions, it has emerged. The news comes as the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) publishes details of a ruling that required telecoms tower business Phoenix Tower to sell 300 sites as a condition of allowing it to buy rival Cellnex. Depending on their likely impact on competition, the regulator can approve or block deals, or allow them subject to conditions. Inflation has boosted many businesses’ turnover, meaning that the commission is increasingly reviewing deals that pose no threat to normal commercial competition. Recently, Phoenix Tower chief executive Dagan Kasavana calculated that it could spend €75 million in the Republic over five years as demand for wireless infrastructure continues growing.
