Key Takeaways From Amazon's Antitrust Case Settlement With EU Regulators; UK Watchdog Launches Similar Probe

Amazon.com Inc AMZN has agreed to share more data with rivals and offer a wider choice of products for buyers under a deal with EU antitrust regulators, the Financial Times reports.

The arrangement will mark the end of two of the most high-profile probes in Brussels. 

Amazon will allow third-party sellers on its marketplace to access more information to help them sell more products online. The possible settlement comes three years after an antitrust probe into Amazon's alleged anti-competitive practices over the data handling of its rivals. 

Investigators doubted that Amazon, with its dual role as a marketplace and a retailer on its platform, misused market-sensitive information to favor its own retail business artificially at the expense of rivals. 

Separately, the U.K. competition watchdog disclosed probing Amazon over possible undermining rivals on its platform. Germany's competition authority declared that Amazon would have to abide by stricter rules than smaller rivals. 

Recently, the European Parliament adopted the Digital Markets Act, banning tech groups from ranking their products and services at the expense of rivals.

Regulators and Amazon reached a deal regarding the latter's "buy box," which ranked sellers high on search results and directed a large part of purchases on the site. 

The second probe focused on Amazon's partiality towards sellers using logistics and delivery services when deciding who has access to the buy box. Amazon made concessions to make rival products more visible to alleviate competition concerns. 

The U.S. Big Techs and Chinese Big Techs are amid intense scrutiny globally for exploiting their influence and gaining undue advantage over the smaller players.

Price Action: AMZN shares traded lower by 0.51% at $112.92 in the premarket on the last check Wednesday.

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