Brazil antitrust regulator approves Alares purchase of Oquei Telecom

Brazil's Administrative Council for Economic Defense (Cade) approved Alares' acquisition of Oquei Telecom and its related companies without any restrictions. The deal, valued at roughly R$190 million, gives Alares 100% of Oquei's capital and expands its broadband fixed‑line presence to about 30 municipalities in the interior of São Paulo, a region previously underserved by the operator.

Cade found no horizontal or vertical market overlap, classifying the transaction as a "substitution of economic agent" and concluding it would not harm competition. The approval is now pending further review by the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel). With the merger, Alares' fiber network—31,000 km covering around 3.2 million residences—positions it among Brazil's top ten fixed‑broadband providers, serving nearly 436,000 customers in São Paulo, behind only Vivo and Claro.