Google gets the green light for $2.6bn Looker acquisition February 13, 2020 Google today completed its $2.6bn (£2bn) acquisition of analytics firm Looker after the deal was approved by the competition watchdog. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) opened an investigation into the merger in December amid concerns it could damage competition in the UK’s cloud computing market. However the regulator today said it had cleared the [...]
Ministers commission review of markets competition February 5, 2020 Ministers have launched a review into the effectiveness of competition in the British economy. Chancellor Sajid Javid and business secretary Andrea Leadsom have commissioned the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to provide evidence on areas where competition is failing. In a letter to the competition regulator’s chief executive Andrea Coscelli, the ministers said the current [...]
Coronavirus: Calls for price controls dismissed as ‘economically illiterate’ April 10, 2020 Economists have hit back at Which? after the consumer watchdog said that the government should enforce price controls on certain items to prevent so-called “price gouging” during the coronavirus pandemic. The calls came after the consumer group said it had found that items such as handwash, cleaning products, and baby formula were selling at vastly [...]
Amazon’s Deliveroo investment raises competition concerns, watchdog finds December 11, 2019 Amazon’s proposed investment in food delivery platform Deliveroo has been thrown off course after the competition watchdog said the deal raises serious concerns. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) today said the investment may require an in-depth investigation. Amazon led a $575m funding round in Deliveroo in May, however the CMA has put the brakes [...]
CMA may block Sainsbury’s-Asda merger, finding deal could push up prices and reduce quality February 20, 2019 Sainsbury's suffered a 15 per cent drop in its share price this morning after the grocer's £12bn proposed merger with Asda was thrown into doubt following a swathe of concerns raised by Britain's competition watchdog. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said the tie-up could lead to "a substantial lessening of competition at both a national and local [...]
Watchdog steps up probe into tech giants over digital ad dominance December 15, 2019 The competition watchdog is set to publish its initial findings into the dominance of tech giants in the digital ad market this week, paving the way for a possible in-depth investigation. In July the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched a market study into Google and Facebook, amid concerns the so-called duopoly could be stifling [...]
CMA orders bathroom services provider Rentokil Initial to dispense with services contracts in Cannon merger January 25, 2019 The Competition and Markets Authority has ordered bathroom services giant Rentokil Initial to sell off several large supply contracts as a condition of its merger with Cannon Hygiene, after deciding the deal would cause “higher prices or a worse deal for customers”. The watchdog ruled this morning the tie-up – between two of the three major suppliers [...]
Social media influencers promise greater clarity over sponsored posts amid CMA crackdown January 23, 2019 A host of high-profile celebrity influencers have agreed to be more transparent about when their social media posts are sponsored amid a crackdown on surreptitious product endorsements. Singers Ellie Goulding and Rita Ora and models Alexa Chung and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley are among the 16 social media stars who have given formal commitments to state clearly [...]
Fyre Festival, influencers, and the CMA – why are regulators finally getting involved in the world of social media sponsorship? February 4, 2019 Social media influencers are back in the headlines, and as usual, it’s for all the wrong reasons. Late last month, the government’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced that it had told 16 high-profile celebrities – including models Alexa Chung and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, musician Rita Ora, and YouTube star Zoe Sugg (better known as Zoella) [...]
Nationwide to refund customers £900,000 for overdraft text failures February 6, 2020 Nationwide will repay £900,000 to customers after it failed to correctly warn them that they would be charged for entering an unarranged overdraft. The move follows an investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which ruled that the building society fell foul of rules stating customers with personal current accounts must receive a text [...]