BRUSSELS (Reuters) - EU antitrust authorities are set to clear CK Hutchison's <0001.HK> 2.45-billion-euro (£2.2 billion) buyout of its partner Veon's <VON.AS> stake in an Italian joint venture after Hutchison reaffirmed a pledge to boost French maverick Iliad in Italy, a person familiar with the matter said on Thursday.
Hutchison and Amsterdam-based telecoms group Veon, formerly known as VimpelCom, gained the European Commission's approval for their Wind Tre joint venture two years ago after agreeing to sell radio frequencies, and transfer or share mobile base station sites to Iliad.
The aim was to ensure a fourth telecoms operator in Italy to compete with Telecom Italia Mobile <TLIT.MI>, Vodafone <VOD.L> and the merged entity.
(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee, Editing by Gabriela Baczynska)
