Tuesday, April 10, 2018

FOX Networks Group's offices in West-London, as well as across Europe, raided by European Commission investigators.

The offices of the FOX Networks Group (FNG) in West-London in the United Kingdom, as well as across Europe, was raided by investigators from the European Commission on Tuesday who seized computers and documents and who will remain on the premises on Wednesday and Thursday.

The FOX Networks Group is the TV channels distributor business from 21st Century Fox.

The FOX Networks Group supplies TV channels like FOX, FOX Life, National Geographic, the FOX Sports channels and a range of others to pay-TV operators worldwide, as well as in Africa and South Africa like MultiChoice's DStv, China's StarTimes and StarSat, and Cell C's subscription video-on-demand service, Cell C black.

The European Commission in a statement said that the raid was carried out due to "concerns that the companies involved may have violated EU antitrust rules that prohibit cartels and restrictive business practices".

The European Commission said the raids in London and across Europe at FNG offices are an early step into "suspected anti-competitive practices" and that FOX "may have violated EU antitrust rules that prohibit cartels and restrictive business practices".

21st Century Fox in a statement says the "FOX Networks Group is cooperating fully with the EC inspection".

In its statement the European Commission says it "can confirm that on 10 April 2018 its officials carried out unannounced inspections in several member states at the premises of companies active in the distribution of media rights and related rights pertaining to various sports events and/or their broadcasting".

"The Commission has concerns that the companies involved may have violated EU anti-trust rules that prohibit cartels and restrictive business practices. The Commission officials were accompanied by their counterparts from the relevant national competition authorities. Unannounced inspections are a preliminary step into suspected anti-competitive practices."