Ireland’s Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) has said it will launch a Phase 2 investigation into Phoenix Tower International’s (PTI) proposed acquisition of Cellnex’s Irish operations.

The deal, expected to be worth €971 million ($1.05 billion), was announced back in March.

As part of the planned acquisition, PTI will snap up around 1,900 towers.

Shortly after the deal was announced, a preliminary probe was launched, but last week in a brief statement, the regulator said a Phase 2 investigation would “establish whether the proposed transaction will result in a substantial lessening of competition."

Spanish infrastructure company Cellnex has been operating in Ireland since 2019, after it acquired tower operator Cignal.

Cellnex CEO Marco Patuano said the sale is part of the company's plans to "consolidate" and "simplify" its overall corporate structure.

The upcoming investigation will see the CCPC gather evidence from Cellnex, PTI, and other third parties.

"The CCPC welcomes submissions from interested parties by email," the regulator said, noting there's a deadline of August 15.

Last year, Florida-based PTI acquired almost 2,000 more urban sites in France following the closing of two deals and separately entered an agreement to enter the German market.

The company also acquired 1,300 telecom towers from Liberty Latin America (LLA) for $407 million, for sites across Panama, Jamaica, the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Barbados, and the British Virgin Islands.

The TowerCo operates over 29,000 telecom towers across Europe, the US, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

Founded in 2013, PTI received backing in 2022 from investment group Blackstone Infrastructure after it purchased a 35 percent stake in the company.

Meanwhile, Cellnex has sold a number of its assets in the past six months, and just this week finalized the sale of its private networks business to Boldyn Networks.

The company also agreed on a deal to sell a 49 percent stake in its Sweden and Denmark subsidiaries to Stonepeak for €730 million ($793m) back in September. Cellnex entered the markets after buying CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd.’s European towers in 2021.