The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the creation of a joint venture between Telefónica, Santander, ACS, and SETT (Spanish Society for Technological Transformation) to develop an Artificial Intelligence gigafactory. Brussels considers that this joint venture complies with EU merger regulations and does not raise competition concerns.
According to the Commission, the operation affects third-party data center services in Spain and contributes to the EU’s technological sovereignty strategy. This roadmap aims to boost infrastructure for cloud and artificial intelligence technologies within the EU.
The transaction primarily concerns third-party data center colocation services in Spain and contributes to the EU’s technological sovereignty strategy, which consists of strengthening and expanding sovereign cloud and artificial intelligence infrastructure in Europe, as part of the EU’s AI Gigafactory Initiative.
The Commission has concluded that the notified transaction would not raise competition concerns, given the limited market positions of the companies resulting from the proposed transaction.
The notified transaction was examined under the simplified merger review procedure.
More information can be found on the Commission’s competition webpage in the public affairs register with case number M.12498.
