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ZURICH (Reuters) - Switzerland's competition commission WEKO said on Tuesday it had approved the purchase of online directory search.ch by Swisscom, as the telecoms group tries to compete with the likes of Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in digital advertising.
In a deal reached last year, Swisscom is to combine directory operator local.ch, which provides information on phone numbers, with Swiss media company Tamedia's search and information service search.ch in a joint subsidiary.
Together the local online directories will reach 3.6 million internet users per month in Switzerland, and the merger will be completed by mid-2015, the companies said in a joint statement.
"Although the fusion results in a monopoly, we are not blocking the plans because we don't expect them to restrict competition," WEKO said in a statement.