EU Clears Telefónica, Banco Santander, Others Data Center Colocation JV

06:18 AM EDT, 08/20/2026 (MT Newswires) -- The European Commission approved the planned joint venture between Telefónica (TEF.MC), Banco Santander (SAN.MC, BNC.L), AI Infrastructure Development and Entidad Pública Empresarial Sociedad Española para la Transformación Tecnológica. The proposed deal, which mainly covers third-party data center colocation services in Spain, would contribute to the European Union's tech sovereignty strategy, the Commission said Thursday. The regulator concluded that the transaction would not raise competition concerns due to the companies' limited market positions resulting from the deal.