Antitrust

Apple may be poisoned by Google antitrust fallout

27 Sep 2023

Founder Steve Jobs once threatened “thermonuclear war” against his rival for copying the iPhone. Now, more than 15% of Apple's operating profit might be coming from fees paid by the search giant. The big risk is that an unfavorable verdict will taint its rich valuation multiple.

Amazon has a poor man’s monopoly

27 Sep 2023

Trustbusters sued the $1.3 trln retailer over how it restricts merchants on its site. But it has lost ground to rivals like Walmart thanks to bad M&A and retail losses. Amazon gets the worst of two worlds: strong enough to worry regulators, vulnerable enough to concern investors.

DOJ fights uphill battle; Google a losing one

12 Sep 2023

A trial kicked off that pits the search engine’s $1.7 trln owner against the US Department of Justice. Google gleans data freely given and has beaten other rivals. That makes the government’s case tough. By fighting it, though, the tech firm risks exposing its creepy reach.

Microsoft rethink puts big tech M&A back on table

22 Aug 2023

The $2.4 trln tech giant will sell streaming rights to Ubisoft in a bid to get UK approval for its $69 bln Activision deal. The big concession is likely to work. It shows a path for tech giants to buy rivals, while sidelining regulators' fears that M&A will kill nascent markets.

Britain’s trustbuster has a shot at redemption

3 Aug 2023

Three months after saying no, the UK’s antitrust watchdog is giving Microsoft’s $69 bln Activision acquisition a second look. The U-turn is hurting the CMA’s reputation. But if Microsoft could acquire only parts of its quarry, the trustbuster’s blushes may yet be spared.

Activision’s comeback raises $69 bln question

13 Jul 2023

After defeating US trustbusters in court, Microsoft may need more time to seal the deal with UK authorities. The 45% premium struck when the “Call of Duty” maker was reeling looks less generous 18 months later. If negotiations drag, boss Bobby Kotick could push for a sweetener.

History is against UK and Spanish telecoms M&A

12 Jul 2023

Vodafone and Orange have deals worth $40 bln on antitrust agencies’ desks. Europe has only once approved a similar merger without competitive remedies, which involved a tiny Dutch player. The telcos may have to make big concessions, undermining their tie-ups, or accept defeat.

Alphabet threats show up everywhere but its shares

29 Jun 2023

The Google-owner’s valuation has powered ahead as it touts its prowess in artificial intelligence, in spite of mounting menaces. A report questioning Google's video ad sales compounds ongoing antitrust threats, and even AI might not be an unalloyed good.

Green alliance crisis is more than just a US drama

19 Jun 2023

Most insurers have quit their industry’s UN-backed climate body. Sector specifics and fear of US lawsuits partly explain why, but so do European governments focusing on energy security rather than net-zero targets. The same dynamic may affect banks and fund managers.

Big Tech throws down gauntlet on trustbusting

13 Jun 2023

Converging cross-border deal policing is a new challenge acquirers must navigate. Alphabet is the latest in the crosshairs. But Microsoft’s potential way around may be the start of new pushback. The $2.5 trln giant is likely going straight to court where it has a fighting chance.

Merger cops’ sandcastle arguments risk crumbling

6 Jun 2023

US competition chief Lina Khan is pushing to the brink in a fight over Illumina’s $7 bln purchase of cancer-test maker Grail. Antitrust enforcers risk a court loss that could curtail their powers. They have chosen a poor, highly speculative case on which to make this gamble.

Banks get sucked into Biden’s M&A black box

4 May 2023

TD Bank's $13 bln bid to buy First Horizon fizzled after watchdogs hadn't approved it in 15 months. Outsiders can only guess why. American companies are used to seesawing regulations and political antipathy to mergers, but in the fraught world of banks the stakes are much higher.

Britain grabs mantle of chief Big Tech deal-slayer

26 Apr 2023

The UK competition watchdog vetoed Microsoft’s $69 bln purchase of “Call of Duty” owner Activision, rejecting the software giant’s promises. Takeovers by tech titans have fizzled under scrutiny from the EU and US. This decision makes it even harder to expand by acquisition.

Spooked dealmakers scurry back into their foxholes

23 Mar 2023

Beyond high-profile cases against Google, US trustbuster Jonathan Kanter is rewriting the anti-consolidation playbook. As he shreds historic guidance, pursues criminal charges and focuses on labor, CEOs are putting M&A on ice. It’s worth waiting to see which policies stick.

Stalled TV deal sharpens U.S. competition picture

28 Feb 2023

A hedge fund’s $9 bln plan to acquire broadcaster Tegna hit a likely fatal regulatory dead-end. The takeover doesn’t cross typical red lines, and the limbo threatens to jack up the price. It’s fresh evidence of the Biden administration pulling out all the trustbusting stops.

Microsoft can answer antitrust “Call of Duty”

13 Feb 2023

UK regulators say selling the video game would ease their concerns over the software giant’s $69 bln purchase of Activision Blizzard. A disposal would be chunky, and boss Satya Nadella won’t want to leave it behind. But even without the franchise, the acquisition still stacks up.

Meta exposes danger of trustbusting virtual risks

1 Feb 2023

Facebook’s owner won in court over U.S. efforts to block its acquisition of fitness-app developer Within. It trips up regulators trying to avoid missing another Instagram, with judges unpersuaded by future competition worries – a bad omen for the FTC’s case against Microsoft.

Biden’s antitrust playbook values shots on goal

25 Jan 2023

In addition to suing Google over a 15-year-old deal, the White House is using an arcane 1936 law to fight perceived competition problems. A trio of court losses undercuts the aggressive strategy. With no sign of a letup, however, big companies will have to fortify their defenses.

Google ad lawsuit reaches back to the future

24 Jan 2023

The Alphabet-owned search giant is in hot water with U.S. prosecutors who say its digital ad business is anticompetitive, citing deals it did 15 years ago. Google may be dominant, but regulators let it get that way. Meanwhile, the market has already started to create its own fix.

Microsoft’s AI bet: heads I win, tails I also win

10 Jan 2023

If the software giant’s mooted $10 bln investment in ChatGPT's maker goes well, it could reshape Microsoft’s business. If it flops, CEO Satya Nadella will have stopped a rival getting hold of a hot AI property. Creative financial structuring cuts Microsoft’s risk even further.