The competition watchdog has opened a full phase two investigation into a planned purchase of mobile phone mast companies Cellnex Ireland and Cignal Infrastructure by Phoenix Tower International (PTI).
The deal was notified to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) in March.
The CCPC said that it has carried out a preliminary examination of the proposed takeover and decided an in-depth investigation is needed to establish whether the transaction will result in a substantial lessening of competition.
Spanish based Cellnex agreed to sell its Irish mobile tower unit to Phoenix for €971m.
Cellnex currently manages around 1,900 mast sites across the country.
It entered the Irish market five years ago when it bought Cignal.
However, it subsequently increased its footprint in 2022 after it acquired the infrastructure portfolio of CK Hutchinson in six countries, including Ireland.
Cellnex said it would use the funds to lower its debt.
The company currently manages over 138,000 sites, including planned rollouts over the next six years, across 12 European countries.
Founded in 2013, PTI is based in Florida in the US.
It said that the deal will bring the number of telecom towers it owns and operate to over 29,000 across Europe, the US, Latin America and the Caribbean.
In 2020 it bought 650 towers owned by the eir owned Emerald Tower for a reported €300m.
