Aspen pays out £8m to NHS in antitrust probe August 14, 2019 Aspen Pharmacare has agreed to pay £8m to the NHS as part of a settlement with the competition watchdog after admitting it made an anti-competitive deal with two other companies. The drug maker has accepted it formed an “illegal, anti-competitive agreement” when it entered into an agreement with two rivals in 2016. Read more: Private [...]
Competition watchdog to probe £1.6bn One Savings Bank and Charter Court merger June 5, 2019 The competition watchdog has announced it is investigating the potential £1.6bn merger between One Savings Bank and Charter Court. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it would assess whether the deal would lead to a “substantial lessening of competition” in the market. Read more: One Savings Bank and Charter Court announce terms of £1.6bn [...]
Competition watchdog kicks off probe into JD Sports’ Footasylum acquisition July 24, 2019 The competition watchdog has kicked off its probe into JD Sports’ acquisition of Footasylum. JD Sports bought the remaining shares in the footwear retailer in a deal worth £90m in March this year, with shareholders approving the sale the following month. Read more: JD Sports on track to meet profit expectations However, the Competition and [...]
Publishers hit out at ‘unscrupulous’ tech giants over digital ad market domination September 11, 2019 British news publishers have clashed with Silicon Valley tech giants amid a government probe into anti-competitive behaviour in the digital advertising market. Media organisations including the Daily Mail’s parent company and Channel 4 have launched blistering attacks on Facebook and Google over their monopoly power and “unscrupulous behaviour”. Read more: Competition watchdog launches probe into [...]
Inmarsat bidders look to appease government ahead of $3.4bn takeover July 18, 2019 The private equity firms behind a $3.4bn (£2.6bn) bid for Inmarsat have agreed a number of undertakings with the government over the future of the satellite firm’s UK operations. Read more: Competition watchdog to probe $3.4bn Inmarsat takeover The consortium, led by Apax Partners and Warburg Pincus, said it will guarantee that the majority of [...]
RBS and Santander rapped over PPI reminders August 23, 2019 Santander and the Ryal Bank of Scotland apologised to customers today as the UK’s competition watchdog scolded them for not properly reminding PPI customers they were able to cancel their plan. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it will force the two banks to appoint independent auditors to scour through their payment protection insurance [...]
Food industry calls for competition laws to be lifted for no-deal Brexit August 7, 2019 The UK’s food industry has called on Boris Johnson to ditch parts of competition law, allowing firms to work together in the event of a no-deal Brexit. The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) has warned that leaving on 31 October without a transition in place could cause widespread supply issues, leaving British consumers either going [...]
Watchdog slams rule-breaking influencers over ‘unacceptable’ social media ads March 18, 2021 The UK advertising watchdog has ramped up the pressure on social media influencers over their continued failure to mark posts as adverts. Under the current rules online stars are required to clearly state when their posts are sponsored or when a brand has provided them with free products. But a three-week monitoring exercise carried out [...]
Competition watchdog will probe Salesforce’s massive $15.7bn takeover of Tableau August 2, 2019 Britain’s competition watchdog will investigate Salesforce’s $15.7bn (£12.4bn) buyout of Tableau Software, it said this morning. Salesforce completed the mammoth takeover yesterday, which is the biggest acquisition in the company’s history. Read more: Salesforce to buy Tableau Software in $15.7bn deal But the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has opened an investigation into whether the [...]
Competition watchdog to probe $3.4bn Inmarsat takeover July 16, 2019 The competition watchdog has opened an investigation into the proposed $3.4bn (£2.6bn) takeover of satellite communications giant Inmarsat by a consortium of private equity firms. Read more: Inmarsat shareholders approve $3.4bn private equity takeover Inmarsat earlier this year unveiled a buyout deal led by Apax Partners and Warburg Pincus, who tabled a cash offer of [...]