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Antitrust

UK’s Facebook slap-down raises bar for US watchdog

1 Dec 2021

Britain’s antitrust body told the social media giant now named Meta to sell GIF maker Giphy. Its ruling hinges on a view of how the online ad market will evolve, not what it’s like now. CEO Mark Zuckerberg can appeal but the order still sets a punchy precedent for Big Tech deals.

Capital Calls: American healthcare exceptionalism

27 Sep 2021

Concise views on global finance: American male life expectancy at birth dropped over 2 years in 2020, the worst among 29 nations. That raises the stakes in a healthcare crisis among working-age people that even the mightiest U.S. employers have so far failed to solve.

Apple can skip past Epic court slap

10 Sep 2021

A judge ruled the iPhone maker needs to ease its App Store rules and make it more open. But habits are hard to change. And with $194 bln in cash, Apple can still hire the best developers and marketers, not to mention lawyers. It will take a bigger punch to crack its dominance.

Railroad suitor’s graceful exit depends on rival

1 Sep 2021

America’s train regulator has derailed Canadian National’s roughly $30 bln agreed deal for Kansas City Southern. To avoid further uphill effort and hefty fees, the suitor needs peer Canadian Pacific to persuade their mutual target to let it off the hook by jumping tracks again.

South Korea’s app-store sandbox is worth watching

1 Sep 2021

A new bill stops Apple and Google from forcing local developers to use their payment systems, which carry hefty commissions. It’s good for the country’s tech champions, like the $60 bln Kakao. But it’s only worth copying elsewhere if users end up with cheaper or better services.

Capital Calls: U.S. jobs, BBQ IPOs, Wm Morrison

6 Aug 2021

Concise views on global finance: The Delta variant puts a leisure job boom at risk; two grill makers’ floats show the IPO market isn’t frozen; Fortress strikes in the bidding war for a UK supermarket.

Capital Calls: Twitter, Domino’s Pizza

22 Jul 2021

Concise views on global finance: Jack Dorsey’s social network reported a 74% bump in revenue despite a slowdown in adding new users; meanwhile, Domino’s Pizza shows one thing that hasn’t abated in 2021 is customers’ love of takeout pies.

Breakdown: U.S. antitrust frenzy stops with judges

21 Jul 2021

Several federal agencies and dozens of states have challenged big, powerful firms, including tech giants like Facebook. Breakingviews lays out who can do what, when, and with what chance of success when the endgame depends on courts where companies get a sympathetic ear.

Tencent e-sports defeat exposes tech M&A weakness

12 Jul 2021

Trustbusters nixed a $5 bln merger of two video-game streaming companies the Chinese titan backs. It's a sign Beijing will no longer tolerate the kinds of transactions that created giants like Meituan. For Tencent boss Pony Ma, a bigger problem may be having to unwind past deals.

Big Tech trustbusters need to disrupt themselves

30 Jun 2021

A U.S. judge tossed out a government suit against Facebook mainly because the FTC didn’t show how to measure the social network’s market share of a service people don't pay for – despite saying it was 60%-plus – or name competitors. Regulators need to rethink their toolbox.

Facebook ruling shows limit to Biden’s deal crunch

28 Jun 2021

The social network won a dismissal of an antitrust lawsuit by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, temporarily sending its market value above $1 trln. That’s a blow to an administration that signaled tougher M&A reviews. Deals may take longer, but in court, companies can prevail.

Biden becomes dealmakers’ no fun police

22 Jun 2021

The new U.S. president was meant to bring certainty to the antitrust environment after a tumultuous four years. But Amazon, Aon, Willis, and Live Nation have been caught in antitrust crosshairs. A bigger stick was expected, but the implementation of crackdowns is still a guess.

Aon-Willis deal collapse would leave few mourners

16 Jun 2021

The Biden administration’s first big antitrust shot is against the $30 bln tie-up of two insurance brokers. Customers may not mind if the merger is scuppered. Neither may investors: Since it was announced, the combined firms’ market values have missed out on $20 bln of gains.

Blocked Nvidia-Arm M&A would hit SoftBank hard

8 Jun 2021

CEO Masayoshi Son agreed to sell his chip designer to the U.S. giant for $40 bln. If governments or competition authorities scupper the deal, an IPO would be the obvious Plan B. Based on sector valuations, $20 bln may be a realistic public price tag, landing SoftBank with a loss.

Breakdown: Antitrust’s hipsters go mainstream

10 Mar 2021

Potential U.S. trustbuster Lina Khan is among those who say regulators should look beyond consumer prices to issues like data and inequality. That’s bad for Big Tech. But while hipsters are in the ascendant, there are still plenty of antitrust squares in high places.

Big Tech pile-on could block future moon shots

18 Dec 2020

Google is now deluged by three U.S. lawsuits, claiming it’s abusing market power. Facebook faces its own challenges against government prosecutors. The duo may beat back the charges but, like Microsoft in the 1990s, too much distraction could make them miss the next big thing.

EU’s Google-Fitbit approval sets risky precedent

17 Dec 2020

Antitrust tsar Margrethe Vestager approved the $2.1 bln deal with conditions. The buyer’s pledges, like giving rival fitness trackers equal access to the Android operating system, are great in theory but hard to monitor. Vestager may only spot the loopholes once the harm is done.

Europe wields foam hammer at big U.S. tech groups

15 Dec 2020

Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager proposed new rules governing the behaviour of Amazon.com, Facebook and others. The potential fines are large, but that is a flimsy deterrent. Recommendations on sharing data with rivals are a neat idea but look narrow in scope.

Congress repeats Zuckerberg show at its expense

19 Nov 2020

The Facebook boss has been grilled by U.S. lawmakers six times in over two years. Other Big Tech chiefs have also made multiple appearances. Yet politicians have failed to pass any new rules on privacy, content or antitrust. Ineffective hearings cut at Congress’s credibility.