Vodafone: Buybacks boost UAE’s sovereign wealth fund’s stake September 4, 2024 According to a recent update, the sovereign wealth fund of the United Arab Emirates now owns 15 per cent of Vodafone. While the Emirates Investment Authority (EIA) has not acquired any more shares in the communications giant, Vodafone’s ongoing share buyback has reduced the number of shares outstanding, boosting EIA’s position on the share register. [...]
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 [...]
Barratt: Profit halves at housebuilder but firm optimistic after Redrow deal September 4, 2024 Housebuilder Barratt reported a halving in profit and drop in completions amid a challenging housing market, but has said it is optimistic about the future. Barratt said its total home completions in the year ended 30 June reached 14,004, down 18.6 per cent from 17,206 in 2023 but at the upper end of the company’s [...]
Viagogo defends reselling Oasis tickets for thousands of pounds as ‘legal’ August 31, 2024 Viagogo defended reselling Oasis tickets for thousands of pounds on its website following the Britpop group warning fans that passes would be “cancelled” if not sold on an official site.
City watchdog’s motor finance review drives up official complaints August 29, 2024 A review by the City regulator into now-banned commission arrangements on car loans has contributed to a surge in official complaints to the UK's financial ombudsman in recent months.
Green light finally expected for £2.5bn Barratt and Redrow mega-merger August 28, 2024 The £2.5bn mega-merger of housebuilders Barratt and Redrow looks set to be finally given approval by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The watchdog launched an investigation into the proposed deal in June after it was first announced in February. Now, the watchdog has said it considers that there are reasonable grounds for believing that [...]
UK financial regulator to review pure protection insurance market August 28, 2024 The City watchdog has announced a probe into the sale of pure protection insurance products amid concerns that "competition is not working well in the market".
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.