Barratt Redrow merger given greenlight by competition watchdog October 4, 2024 The competition watchdog has given its final clearance for the merger of housebuilders Barratt and Redrow. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched an investigation into the proposed £2.5bn deal in June after it was first announced in February. The deal was completed in August without regulatory approval after the CMA suggested there were reasonable grounds to believe [...]
Price rises and smaller data packages: Regulator voices concerns over Vodafone’s £15bn Three merger September 13, 2024 The planned £15bn merger between Vodafone and Three could lead to price increases for tens of millions of mobile customers, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has warned. The watchdog added that the deal, which was first announced last year, could also see customers get a reduced service such as smaller data packages in their [...]
Google accused of using its dominance to harm the competition September 6, 2024 Google has been accused of using “anti-competitive practices” which harm thousands of publishers and advertisers in the UK. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it has provisionally found that the US giant could be negatively impacting rivals over open-display advert technology. According to its findings, the watchdog said that when placing digital adverts on [...]
Nationwide to complete £2.9bn takeover of Virgin Money after FCA and PRA approval September 6, 2024 Nationwide is to complete its £2.9bn takeover of rival Virgin Money next month after the deal was given the green light by the UK’s financial regulators. The banks said in statement issued to the London Stock Exchange that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) have both approved [...]
CMA clears Microsoft and Inflection AI partnership after merger ruling September 4, 2024 Britain’s competition regulator has today cleared Microsoft’s arrangements with Inflection AI, which included a licensing deal and the hiring of former Inflection employees. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced in April it was looking at three separate deals that potentially fall under UK merger law and, if so, whether they could have a harmful [...]
Apple has ‘significant concerns’ over CMA probe into its Safari mobile browser September 4, 2024 Apple said it has “significant concerns” with the UK competition watchdog investigation into the supply of mobile browsers. In 2022, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched a probe into the dominance of Apple’s Safari browser and Google’s Chrome browser, along with the possibility that Apple may be restricting the cloud gaming market through its [...]
Google facing £1bn competition lawsuit from professor on behalf of SMEs August 23, 2024 A professor has launched a class action lawsuit against Google on behalf of SMEs he said have been negatively hit by excessive commissions on its Play Store. Competition law professor at the University of Strathclyde, Barry Rodger, has alleged that Google has abused its dominant position by excluding competition in app distribution and by charging [...]
Regulator calls out Barclays and Santander for breaching retail banking order August 22, 2024 Britain's competition watchdog has rebuked Barclays and Santander UK for breaching parts of its retail banking order.
Google and Apple probes dropped by CMA amid pivot to new regime August 21, 2024 The UK’s competition watchdog has decided to close two investigations into Google’s Play Store and Apple’s App Store, citing a shift in priorities. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) was investigating whether Google and Apple have been using their app stores to put British app developers at a disadvantage. It was concerned the tech giants [...]
Meta: Watchdog greenlights changes to advertiser data rules on Facebook August 20, 2024 The UK’s competition watchdog has given the green light to new commitments from Meta to better protect the data of advertisers on Facebook. Since June 2021, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has been looking into whether Meta has unfairly data from its advertising services to give its Facebook Marketplace an edge over competitors. After [...]