The European Commission (EC) has approved Orange Group’s planned acquisition of Lorca’s 50 percent stake in the carrier’s Spanish JV, MásOrange.

In a statement, the EC noted that the buyout didn’t raise any competition concerns.

“The Commission concluded that, given its limited impact on the market structure, the notified merger did not raise any competition concerns. The notified merger was reviewed under the simplified merger control procedure,” said the EC.

The agreement was first revealed at the end of October, when Orange signed a non-binding agreement to explore the takeover. A binding agreement was then signed in December.

Orange and MásMóvil finalized their merger in Spain two years ago to create the country’s biggest mobile operator. As such, both telcos had a 50 percent stake in the newly formed MásOrange.

First announced back in 2022, the merger was estimated to be worth €18.6 billion ($21.94bn) and created a combined business of more than 37 million customers, including mobile and fixed-line subscribers.

The merger was heavily scrutinized by the EC as it would see the Spanish market drop from four carriers down to three. This then led to MásMóvil divesting spectrum across three frequency spectrum bands to Romania’s Digi. MVNO Digi is using this spectrum to build its own mobile network, eventually becoming a fourth operator in Spain.