Liberty Global completed its acquisition of Sunrise, taking control of 98 per cent of the Swiss operator’s shares after securing all the regulatory approvals and fulfilling purchase conditions.

In a statement, Liberty Global said it would now proceed with a squeeze-out procedure to delist Sunrise shares from the Swiss stock exchange, making it a wholly-owned subsidiary within the Liberty Global group.

The CHF6.8 billion ($7.4 billion) deal was announced in August: completion was expected to be imminent after Switzerland’s Federal Communications Commission cleared the move last week, finding no competition concerns.

Rival Salt Mobile had challenged the deal, arguing it breached the terms of a joint venture with Sunrise unveiled earlier this year.

Liberty Global will now combine its existing Swiss cable operation, UPC Switzerland with Sunrise as part of an ambition to create a “fixed mobile champion across Europe”.

Both businesses will operate independently until the integration of the two companies is completed in early 2021.

“By bringing together UPC’s leading gigabit broadband network and the most advanced 5G network of Sunrise, the combined company will provide seamless connectivity for millions of Swiss consumers and thousands of Swiss businesses,” said Liberty Global CEO Mike Fries in a statement.