Competition authority gives bus firm merger the green light

The competition authority Nma has given the green light to public transport firms Connexxion and Veolia to merge.

The two firms have been in merger talks since 2009.
Between them, the two firms control over half the Dutch public transport market, but research shows there is still sufficient competition, the NMa said.
Investigation

The competition body had originally said it was concerned about the effect of the new combine on ticket prices and the standard of service and carried out a more in depth investigation.
Two thirds of Connexxion is in the hands of French-led consortium Transdev/BNG. Transdev is a subsidiary of France’s state-owned Caisse des Dépôts. Veolia is owned by France’s Veolia Environnement.
In April, Deutsche Bahn said it is to buy British public transport firm Arriva, which operates bus services and some trains.