By Adria Calatayud 



  The European Union's General Court said Thursday that it has annulled a 2016 decision by the bloc's antitrust authority that blocked CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd.'s proposed acquisition of Telefonica SA's O2 business. 


  The court upheld an appeal by CK Hutchison--which owns U.K. mobile operator Three--seeking annulment of the European Commission's decision. The judgment comes after Telefonica agreed to combine O2 with Liberty Global PLC's Virgin Media on May 7. 


  The European Commission, the bloc's antitrust authority, in 2016 considered that the reduction to three players from four in the U.K. market would have led to an increase in prices and a restriction of choice for consumers. However, the court concluded the effects of the deal on prices and on the quality of services for consumers weren't proved to the requisite legal standard. 


  The European Commission said it takes note of the court's decision. "The Commission will carefully analyze the judgment," it said. 


  Separately, CK Hutchison said it welcomes the court's judgment and said the European Commission will need to fundamentally revisit its approach to merger reviews in the telecoms sector. 


  "The Commission's approach has unfortunately acted as a brake on, or in a number of cases prevented, vital industry consolidation in Europe which would have resulted in significant new investment, innovation and benefits for European consumers and industry," CK Hutchison said. 


  Write to Adria Calatayud at adria.calatayud@dowjones.com