BT shares rise as £12.5bn takeover of EE cleared by competition authorities

The CMA took "extra time" to consider the deal following the ire of competitiors and customers

BT is largest home phone company in the UK with a customer base of 35 million (Getty Images)

BT shares rose slightly on Friday morning following the announcement that its planned takeover of EE, the mobile phone operator, was cleared by the Competition and Markets Authority after a six-month investigation.

Shares were up 0.55 per cent at 469.18 in the morning sessions.

The CMA said in September that it did not expect the deal - worth a hefty £12.5 billion - would "result in a substantial lessening of competition in any market in the UK".

But it confirmed that even if BT attempted to use its dominance in back haul companies used to carry mobile traffic, it would not create a monopoly across the industry.

The CMA took "extra time" to consider the deal following the ire of competitiors and customers, who feared that prices would rise as the combined behemoth came to dominate the market.

A prospectus will be issued in the week commencing January 25 with the deal set to close on January 29.

BT is largest home phone company in the UK with a customer base of 35 million. It did once have a foot in the mobile phone market with BT Cellnet, which it sold off in 2001.

It's looking to re-enter the market by buying EE, which also operates Orange and T-Mobile. EE is the largest mobile phone provider in the UK and owns a third of the market.

Sky raised objections to the merger, arguing that services provided by BT Openreach to other players in the sector should be independent. Sky entered a tie-up with O2 last year in a similar deal, to give customers access to a mobile network.