EU now formally opposed to TomTom / Tele Atlas deal

Reuters is reporting that the European Commission, apparently having completed is inquiry into the $4.2b acquisition offer TomTom made Tele Atlas last year, is issuing a "statement of objections." It's not a flat-out rejection / do not pass go / do not collect $200, but now TomTom supposedly has until May 5th to work on resolving the issues the EU's presented before it can get the thumbs up to make its big buy.

[pismodude2 @ Mar 1st 2008 3:53PM]

I'm gonna collect $200, regardless of what they say!

[mushrooshi @ Mar 1st 2008 5:37PM]

WORD CAN'T BRING ME DOWNNN!

Oh OHHH!

[Mat @ Mar 1st 2008 4:03PM]

Tomtom ONE XL, or the Navman s50 - which is the better one?

[Zach @ Mar 1st 2008 8:06PM]

TomTom hands down. I absolutely love mine. It's easy to use, initiative, and just plain works. I can't describe it. I've used and owned numerous GPS systems and nothing has ever come close to my TomTom

[Dave Skaggs @ Mar 1st 2008 4:08PM]

Apparently, you have an obsession with "apparently.

[Dave Skaggs @ Mar 1st 2008 4:12PM]

"

[AlphaTeam @ Mar 1st 2008 4:13PM]

So Nokia can own Navteq but TomTom can't own TelAtlas?

[Craig @ Mar 1st 2008 4:18PM]

I know! I'm so bummed. And Gina said Greg was hawt, but she can't date him because Tammi is so, like, he's mine. And then Steve wants to have Ashley, but she can't because her mom said no dating. I mean, what's THAT about?!

[Craig @ Mar 1st 2008 4:19PM]

^^^^ You know, in my head, that was sorta funny, but here, in pixels, um...not so much. Go ahead and give it a big [-]...that'll learn me.

[AlphaTeam @ Mar 1st 2008 4:38PM]

It's okay =)

[Victor @ Mar 1st 2008 7:52PM]

Craig- you had me laughing.

[Zach @ Mar 1st 2008 8:07PM]

Craig, I laughed too :) It's okay.

[Johan S @ Mar 1st 2008 4:29PM]

Why can't TomTom own TeleAtlas? If TeleAtlas wants to sell to TomTom, what true right does the government have to tell them not to merge? How does government have the right to stop two folks from getting together and sharing information? Governmetns should not have the authority to prevent mergers. It's unfair that governments can tell businesses not to merge or cooperate with each other .. as long as consumers are not getting lied to or contracts being broken .. they already get a sizable chunk of TeleAtlas and TomTom profits via taxation without knowing anything about the mapping and navigation business.

[AlphaTeam @ Mar 1st 2008 4:40PM]

Unfortunately some things must be regulated to make sure there are no monopolies. Trust me it's not fun when you pay $5 a min to call int'l when AT&T had a monopoly.

[Matias Korhonen @ Mar 1st 2008 4:43PM]

The EU's trying look at a larger picture. Does the merger hinder competion in a market (no company should have monopoly power, or near monopoly power).

[John Bailey @ Mar 1st 2008 7:03PM]

Monopolies are bad. The American method of dealing with the problem is to wait until there is a problem, by which time it is too late. The European method is to keep an eye on developing monopolies and stop them becoming a monopoly.

[Zach @ Mar 1st 2008 8:10PM]

@John,

which would make sense considering our more capitalist individualist approach and their more socialist approach. Not to mention, our approach is to worry about it when it becomes too big of a problem, but the EU's solution is to fine the shit out of it till it's no longer a player.

[jaketexas @ Mar 2nd 2008 4:07AM]

it makes a lot more sense to stop a monopoly from forming than trying to fight a monopoly. The latter takes years and years which translates in significant higher cost for consumers and slow innovation. Remember the old telcos in the US? Or the state telcos in the EU when competition was introduced (=imposed)?

[applefreak @ Mar 1st 2008 4:32PM]

TomTom wouldn't collect any money, they would be PAYING a lot of money

Yes, yes, I know that is now just an expression, but I like splittin hairs.... :)

[Andrew @ Mar 1st 2008 10:41PM]

Where are all the negative comments about the EU going after poor little EUROPEAN companies? If TomTom was American there would be no end to the crybabies crying about the evil "socialist" EU.

[KarlW @ Mar 2nd 2008 12:42PM]

I can't understand why the Americans here and elsewhere on the internet are so right-wing. Socialist ideas work very well in Europe. In Europe, we expect our government to protect and support us if/when we need it. Its a much better system IMO - it means we have social health care, low university fees, free childcare...etc. And by politicizing these things, we have elected officials with proper accountability for the services.

I think the US has a lot to learn from the "socialist" EU. If only they'd not be so stubborn. We created democracy, and since then we've had the time to evolve our systems in to examples the US should follow.

[John @ Mar 2nd 2008 1:51AM]

I'm very pleased to see TomTom's purchase stopped, and in the long-run I believe this will be better for Tele Atlas shareholders.

Both Navteq and Tele Atlas are suppliers of map data to lots of GPS makers. Mio, Magellan, Navman, Garmin, Medion, Navigon, etc. Competition between the two map providers and all their customers is the reason why GPS prices has gone down from $1000 back in 2004, to $199 this year.

With Nokia taking control of Navteq and TomTom taking control of Tele Atlas, we could soon end up with a duopoly in not only map data, but also in hardware. Something that would not be healthy for the development of mobile navigation services. We need competition to make sure pedestrian navigation and other future GPS services get up and running at a reasonable price.

[John Bailey @ Mar 2nd 2008 6:01AM]

@Zach

Who has been fined so much they are not a player any more?