“By a judgment of March 21, 2023, the Ghent Business Court, Dendermonde section, ordered at first instance the transfer of Edpnet’s activities to Proximus. In view of serious indications of substantial impediments to competition which have been brought to his attention, the auditor general of the ABC has decided, following consulting the director of economic affairs, to open an investigation concerning a possible abuse of dominant position of Proximus due to the acquisition of edpnet”, she says.
Edpnet, a Proximus network customer until now, experienced financial problems at the end of last year. The company requested and obtained protection from its creditors. Discussions around an adjustment of his debts, however, did not bear fruit and the court therefore decided that the assets under control might be sold. Proximus, one of the creditors, was a candidate for the takeover and had submitted a binding offer of 20.5 million euros.
To date, Edpnet, an independent operator which operates in Belgium and the Netherlands, has around 46,000 customers for fixed Internet and 13,500 for mobile.