CMA and EU antitrust watchdogs eye AstraZeneca’s $39bn Alexion deal June 1, 2021 EU antitrust watchdogs and are set to decide by this weekend whether to approve AstraZeneca’s $39bn bid for biopharmaceutical company Alexion, a European Commission filing revealed today. Anglo-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca sought approval for the deal on Monday. However, the UK’s competition regulator is reviewing the takeover bid for the US-based pharma firm, until 5 July – [...]
McAfee forced to refund customers following auto-renew probe May 25, 2021 Antivirus software giant McAfee will be forced to refund some customers whose contracts were automatically renewed following an investigation by the competition watchdog. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) opened an investigation into the anti-virus software market in 2018 amid concerns about unfair practices. A super-complaint filed by Citizens Advice warned that UK customers could [...]
Tim Cook to take the stand in Apple’s Fortnite ‘monopoly’ battle May 21, 2021 Apple boss Tim Cook will take the stand today to defend his company against allegations of monopoly power as part of a high-profile legal battle with Fortnite maker Epic Games. The iPhone chief is expected to spend more than two hours fighting back against claims Apple abuses its market power through its App Store. Epic [...]
£31bn Virgin Media and O2 merger given final green light by UK competition watchdog May 20, 2021 £31bn Virgin Media and O2 merger given green light by UK competition watchdog
Apple hit with £1.5bn UK lawsuit over ‘excessive’ app store charges May 11, 2021 Apple is being sued for £1.5bn in a landmark UK class action lawsuit that accuses the tech giant of charging “excessive and unlawful” fees on its App Store. The claim, which has been filed in the Competition Appeal Tribunal in London, alleges that Apple deliberately shuts out competition by forcing consumers to use its own [...]
CMA teams up with Australian and German authorities to tackle problematic mergers April 20, 2021 The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has teamed up with its Australian and German counterparts to better enforce mergers, with healthy competition crucial to post-pandemic economic growth. The CMA, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and Germany’s Bundeskartellamt have signed up to a statement which said that “without strong merger control regimes, there is a [...]
UK launches new competition watchdog for Big Tech crackdown April 7, 2021 Tech giants such as Facebook and Google are facing a tougher regulatory regime in the UK after a new watchdog aimed at curbing their power launched today. The Digital Markets Unit (DMU) will be charged with setting up new rules to give consumers more control over their data, promote online competition and crack down on [...]
Facebook’s Giphy takeover to face in-depth competition probe April 1, 2021 Facebook’s takeover of Giphy will face an in-depth competition probe in the UK after the social media giant declined to offer remedies to the regulator’s concerns. The Competition and Market Authority (CMA) last week gave the companies five days to address worries that their deal could harm the digital advertising market and the supply of [...]
Fortnite maker complains of Apple’s ‘anti-competitive’ behaviour to UK watchdog March 30, 2021 Fortnite maker Epic Games has complained to the UK’s markets watchdog today over Apple’s ‘anti-competitive’ rules, after a spat that led to the game being banned from the App Store last year. Epic took its competition complaint to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), claiming Apple exercised unfair control over app makers. Last August, Fortnite [...]
Tory peer Lord Marland ‘in the running’ to chair competition watchdog March 29, 2021 Tory grandee Lord Marland is said to be in the running to become the next chairman of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in what could be the latest political appointment by Boris Johnson. Lord Marland, a former Conservative minister, is one of several names being circulated at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial [...]