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Antitrust

EU can afford to shunt Siemens-Alstom to a siding

18 Jan 2019

Margrethe Vestager may well block the rail groups’ merger. That would rile German and French politicians yearning for a European champion to face down distant fears of Chinese dominance. But if the antitrust tsar pulls the plug, neither Siemens nor Alstom would suffer too much.

Big Tech may face another front in D.C. battle

16 Jan 2019

William Barr, set to become U.S. attorney general, wonders how Silicon Valley “behemoths” like Amazon got so big. That hasn’t been a DOJ focus. Facebook’s clout was one reason for AT&T’s purchase of Time Warner, on whose board Barr sat. It could make him a new antitrust threat.

Review: Saving capitalism from itself

4 Jan 2019

From France's "gilets jaunes" protests to the election of Donald Trump, faith in the system is weak. Two new polemics, "The Curse of Bigness" and "The Myth of Capitalism" blame a lack of competition. Updated antitrust rules can help fix that. It's a plausible aim.

UK audit reform leaves unfinished business

18 Dec 2018

Britain wants companies to use two auditors and stricter Chinese walls between consulting and book-keeping. The moves should help competition, but they won’t be as effective as radical options like breaking up groups and market-share caps, nor prevent failures like Carillion.

SSE comes off worse in energy M&A short-circuit

17 Dec 2018

The UK energy group’s plan to merge its retail unit with that of Germany’s Innogy collapsed, after a price cap undermined the transaction’s logic. Innogy can still do a deal with new owner E.ON. SSE’s transition to renewables looks murkier, and its generous payout more fragile.

Holding: Big tech cruising for antitrust bruising

26 Nov 2018

Facebook’s Russian-meddling fumbles and Amazon’s second-headquarters hubris are Exhibits A and B for legal reform. Derided as “hipster antitrust,” the idea that bigness alone can breed evil is true to competition law’s original aim. It’s time trustbusters became disruptors, too.

Anti-OPEC bill may squeeze U.S. oil industry

10 Oct 2018

The disappearance of a Saudi journalist is helping to breathe life into a bipartisan effort to subject the cartel to U.S. antitrust law. But it may prove more useful as a threat than reality. America’s energy producers benefit from OPEC’s price-fixing, too.

M&A bankers better off hunting pheasant than elk

3 Oct 2018

The value of deals above $10 bln popped by 150 pct in the first nine months of the year. Some, like Comcast’s purchase of Sky, come with chunky financing fees. Still, the glory is spread less thinly on smaller deals, which are also growing quickly, and are easier to close.

Data is new beat for transatlantic antitrust cops

28 Sep 2018

The U.S. DOJ’s Makan Delrahim and the EU’s Margrethe Vestager worry concentrations of personal information may be used to stifle competition. She has been the tougher so far, but the shared focus could hurt tech giants like Facebook and Alphabet that depend on data for profit.

The Exchange: Europe’s tech-slayer in chief

27 Sep 2018

Margrethe Vestager has taken on Apple, Facebook and Google as Europe’s antitrust commissioner, leaving behind huge fines and bruised feelings. She talks with John Foley about Silicon Valley’s missteps, Europe’s challenges and what she’s buying on Amazon – her latest target.

Sky battle may end in awkward media giant impasse

19 Sep 2018

A sealed-bid auction could decide whether Comcast or Disney takes control of the UK broadcaster. The winner will almost certainly overpay. If the cable giant triumphs, the Magic Kingdom might keep its 39 pct stake. That would make the fierce rivals uneasy joint venture partners.

Sinclair dumbly punched a gift horse in the mouth

7 Aug 2018

The right-wing broadcaster needlessly endangered its $3.9 bln bid for Tribune Media by selling stations to questionable buyers. That put sympathetically inclined Trump regulators in a bind. The Chicago-based TV group is better off pulling the plug and selling to someone else.

Viewsroom: Europe puts Google in a bind

19 Jul 2018

The search firm can easily cover the EU’s $5 bln fine for using its Android phone system to stymie rivals. But the order to stop forcing handset makers to pre-install its software could clip innovation. Plus: Goldman Sachs and Tesla put lackluster corporate governance on show.

AT&T throws bone to antitrust watchdogs

13 Jul 2018

The U.S. Justice Dept faces high hurdles in appealing a harsh ruling that cleared the $85 bln purchase of Time Warner. But since the deal closed, AT&T is raising some customer prices. The hikes came after the DOJ lost its case, but could still sway the court of public opinion.

Disney-Fox-Sky puts UK M&A regulators in a bind

27 Jun 2018

After the Mickey Mouse owner boosted its offer for Rupert Murdoch’s group, Sky investors reckon they’re due a bump. UK regulators’ keenness to protect minority investors implies it should agree. But doing so will also put it in the odd position of adding fuel to an already red hot bidding war.

Holding: As AT&T case ends, trustbuster woes begin

13 Jun 2018

Donald Trump’s Justice Department lost its bid to stop the telco’s $85 bln Time Warner merger, battering DOJ’s Obama-era image as tough but savvy. Weak legal claims baffled experts and stalled other deals. The watchdog can expect fresh charges of putting politics over the law.

AT&T deal approval doesn’t mean anything goes

13 Jun 2018

The U.S. Justice Dept gambled when it sued to block the $85 bln Time Warner sale. Its failure means business as usual for vertical mergers, like Comcast’s likely bid for Fox. Big firms that directly compete will still face tough scrutiny – and prosecutors eager for a clear win.

AT&T gets law right this time, but could regret it

12 Jun 2018

A judge cleared the telco’s $85 bln Time Warner purchase in a clean ruling against U.S. regulators who tried to block it. That’s a victory for CEO Randall Stephenson, but it could come with a winner’s curse. AT&T is new to the media business and has barely any room to cut costs.

Investors think Qualcomm-NXP deal is back on

6 Jun 2018

The $44 bln chip acquisition-in-waiting may finally get approval from Beijing – if Chinese telecom-equipment group ZTE can turn a U.S. business ban into a less damaging fine. NXP’s stock is again trading within 10 pct of the offer price. It’s still a bet fraught with uncertainty.