Dismissing complaints from Microsoft and Yahoo, the EU Competition Commission cleared Google’s acquisition of DoubleClick. The Antitrust Division (U.S. Department of Justice) had done so after completing its Hart-Scott-Rodino Act review in December 2007. According to the Associated Press, the EU noted that Microsoft, Yahoo and AOL would discipline any attempt by Google/DoubleClick to raise the prices for web-placed advertisements post-merger.
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Mar
11
Posted by : Matthew Wild | On : March 11, 2008
Category: Antitrust, EU Competition Commission, Mergers and Acquisitions
Tags:advertising, doubleclick, EU, Eurpoean Union Competition Commission, google, internet, matthew wild, web
Feb
21
Posted by : Matthew Wild | On : February 21, 2008
Category: Antitrust, Consent Decrees, EU Competition Commission, HSR Review, Intellectual Property, Mergers and Acquisitions, Relevant Markets, Section 7 (Clayton Act), U.S. Department of Justice (Antitrust Division)
Tags:, acquisitions, Antitrust, Antitrust Division, competition, competition commission, consent, Department of Justice, EU, fix-it-first, mergers, Reuters, Thomson
February 19, 2008. The Antitrust Division conditioned approval of Thomson Corporation’s $17 billion acquisition of Reuters Group PLC on divestitures of financial datasets and licensing of related intellectual property. Thomson and Reuters compete head-to-head in providing three types of financial data used by investment professional to make investment decision. The Antitrust Division analyzed three relevant product markets — fundamentals data, earning estimates data and aftermarket research reports. The parties combined market shares post-merger would have been more than 50 percent and up to 90 percent. The Antitrust Division required Thomson to sell the relevant datasets and license its relevant intellectual property to a suitable buyer. The consent agreement contains a hold separate provision but did not require the parties to “fix-it-first.” The DOJ and EU Competition Commission cooperated in their investigations. The EU required different remedies that had no bearing in the U.S. Attached are the Antitrust Division’s press release and Competitive Impact Statement. DOJ Press Release (Thomson) Competitive Impact Statement (Thomson)