As Octopus reaches its tentacles into Bulb, a new Big Six is on the horizon November 3, 2022 Octopus Energy's takeover of Bulb signals the creation of a new Big Six, and an increasingly difficult market for challengers.
US judge blocks Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster’s £1.9bn merger November 1, 2022 A US judge has blocked Penguin Random House’s planned $2.18bn (£1.89bn) purchase of Simon & Schuster, after finding the move would hurt competition for anticipated best sellers. Judge Florence Pan of the US district court for the District of Columbia said that the combination of Bertelsmann owned Penguin and Paramount Global owned Simon & Schuster would “substantially” [...]
Pfizer and Flynn Pharma to appeal £70m fine for price hiking October 27, 2022 Pfizer and Flynn Pharma have filed an appeal against the UK’s competition watchdog over its decision to fine the firms £70m for hiking the price of a life-saving epilepsy drug. Pharma giant Pfizer and privately-owned neuroscience specialist Flynn are appealing the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA’s) £70m fine, after the two firms previously forced the [...]
Aviva and Hargreaves Lansdown call on regulators to prioritise net-zero October 27, 2022 A group of top finance firms including Hargreaves Lansdown and Aviva Investors have called on financial watchdogs make net-zero a central objective if the UK is to avert the worst economic damage of climate change.
CMA gives London Stock Exchange green light on Quantile takeover October 26, 2022 The competition watchdog has given the greenlight to London Stock Exchange Group's takeover of compression firm Quantile today after an in-depth investigation did not raise “substantial competition concerns”.
Govt drags feet with new digital markets bill October 25, 2022 A new report by MPs on the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee has called on the Government to push forward with a draft Digital Markets Bill that would allow regulators to take a more proactive approach to curbing big tech dominance. The bill would enshrine the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) Digital Markets Unit (DMU) [...]
Meta will be forced to sell Giphy as the CMA falls for the dangerous myth of ‘big is bad’ October 25, 2022 . Regulators around the world are intent on breaking up the largest tech companies, and now they have a model that works — even if it's dangerously detached from reality.
Watchdog eyes Big Tech push into UK financial services sector October 25, 2022 The presence of Big Tech in the UK’s financial services market has caught the eyes of the regulator. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is seeking views on the possible competition harms and benefits of the Big Tech push into financial services sectors and the infrastructure on which it is based. Sheldon Mills, executive director of [...]
Civil Aviation Authority chief steps down following a summer of travel chaos October 21, 2022 The chief of the UK Civil Aviation Authority will stand now next year after a rocky few years of pandemic transport chaos and strike action drama. Richard Moriarty has worked for the organisation for more than ten years, in senior roles including Director of Competition and Economic Regulation, Director of Consumers and Markets, Deputy Chief Executive [...]
UK is now the largest crypto economy in Europe October 20, 2022 The UK received a whopping $233 billion in raw transaction value of cryptocurrency in one year, according to an official report.