Meta (and then still Facebook) is said to have put $400 million on the table for its gif platform Giphy in 2020. Now the British antitrust authorities have finally decided that the group should sell the platform again. After a renewed examination, the CMA (Competition and Markets Authority) came to this conclusion, As reported by Handelsblatt. The spokesperson confirmed that Meta has already accepted the decision and will not take any further legal action.
The CMA explained that Meta could make it more difficult for the competition to embed gifs via Giphy and could request more customer data if users wanted to integrate corresponding animations into TikTok or Twitter. Plus, according to Giphy, it was one of Facebook’s competitors until the CMA takeover. Acquisition weakens competition in Great Britain.
Meta sticks to his strategy
Meta must now resell Giphy to address competition concerns. The new buyer must also be approved by the authorities. Meta has stated that it will work closely with the CMA on the sale, but has made it clear that it will continue to make acquisitions in the future.
The takeover has made headlines since 2020. The British cartel authorities have never approved this and have always tried to reverse it. As early as November last year, the CMA ordered Meta to sell Giphy again, but the group went to court. Then the authority ordered a new examination for the summer. In February of this year, Meta was fined millions for violating CMA requirements. In the UK, companies are required to continue to conduct separate business pending approval of the merger. It is clear that the Capital Markets Authority did not see that this has been achieved.
“Alcohol buff. Troublemaker. Introvert. Student. Social media lover. Web ninja. Bacon fan. Reader.”