After a tribunal overturned its initial ruling to prohibit Facebook owner Meta’s acquisition of Giphy, the UK’s competition watchdog will conduct another investigation.
Because of its worries about the loss of a potential competitor in advertising and the potential effects on social media rivals, Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) last year ordered Meta to sell animated images platform Giphy, which it had purchased for a reported US$400 million (A$588 million).
When the British Competition Appeals Tribunal (CAT) ruled that ch giant had largely won a challenge against the regulator.
the CMA had “failed properly to consult” and had “wrongly excised portions from its decision”.
The CAT declared that it had overturned the regulator’s decision and sent the case back for another judgement.
In response, the CMA stated that the tribunal had agreed to rethink its decision but had backed its strategy for evaluating acquisitions that potentially hinder innovation.
It said, “We will start our review shortly.”