Anti-virus firm Norton taken to court amid competition investigation March 23, 2021 The UK competition watchdog is taking anti-virus software firm Norton to court after it refused to provide information relating to an ongoing investigation. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has identified concerns that Norton’s practices for automatically renewing contracts result in customers paying for services they no longer want or need. It asked the company [...]
Government ordered to reveal firms in £12bn PPE bonanza ‘VIP lane’ October 18, 2021 The government has been ordered to reveal the list of 47 companies which were awarded hefty PPE contracts via the ‘high-priority lane’ at the beginning of the pandemic last year. The contracts cost the government some £12.5bn, despite a number of reports that some of the PPE acquired was ‘unusable’. The Information Commissioner has told [...]
To make Britain competitive globally, we must strip away regulatory red tape April 13, 2021 Last month, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) made a ruling which blocked the merger of the two British crowdfunding sites Seedrs and Crowdcube. This was wrong for a slew of reasons, not the least because Seedrs and Crowdcube are both tiny companies that should be below the regulatory radar. Both companies are currently [...]
London Tech Week, Day Three: Facing the future June 15, 2022 Steamrolling into day three of London Tech Week, the attention today turned to the emerging technologies – quantum, health tech, blockchain, AI – which are transforming our world. Many of these ‘emerging technologies’ are in fact on the cusp of becoming mainstream. There are few industries that will not be impacted by the technological revolution [...]
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 [...]
Green light: Competition watchdog clears Uber’s Autocab takeover March 29, 2021 The competition watchdog has given the green light to Uber’s takeover of taxi tech firm Autocab, giving the ride-hailing giant a much-needed boost for its UK operations. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) opened a phase one investigation into the merger in January to examine how the deal could harm the private hire vehicle market. [...]
KKR sets up dedicated team for snapping up UK companies July 6, 2021 KKR will set up a team of dealmakers who will specifically target more UK takeover deals, as the private equity “raid” on British companies reaches record highs. The private equity giant has announced it will expand its global operations to include a new team of five British dealmakers who will focus on snapping up companies [...]
TfL under fire over ‘hidden subsidies’ for Uber Thames Clipper services June 30, 2021 Transport for London (TfL) is tonight under pressure after a complaint was lodged with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) over “hidden subsidies” for the Uber Thames Clipper ferry service. Romford MP Andrew Rosindell and London Assembly Member Keith Prince have written to the CMA saying that the firm is being given “an unfair and [...]
CMA clears $4.3bn Roche-Spark deal as US drags feet December 16, 2019 Swiss pharmaceuticals giant Roche today won UK regulatory approval for its $4.3bn merger with gene therapy firm Spark Therapeutics. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) unconditionally cleared the tie-up in the latest milestone in Roche’s $114.5 per share offer. Read more: Roche faces fresh delay in $4.3bn Spark merger The deal had faced intense scrutiny [...]
Italy slaps Amazon with €1.1bn fine for abusing market dominance December 9, 2021 Italy’s competitions watchdog has slapped Amazon with a €1.13bn (£965m) fine for harming rival e-commerce logistics services.