UK Antitrust Watchdog Launches Probe On Facebook's $400M Giphy Acquisition: Report

The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) will examine Facebook Inc’s FB $400 million GIF search engine Giphy Inc acquisition for possible supply restriction of Giphy’s video clips and animated videos on rival services like Apple Inc’s AAPL iMessage, Twitter Inc TWTR, Signal, and TikTok, Bloomberg reports.
Facebook’s refusal to address the CMA’s antitrust concerns triggered the probe.
CMA came to know about Giphy’s global digital advertising partnership expansion plans from the initial review.
Last week, the regulatory body gave five working days to Facebook and Giphy to address the merger impact on digital advertising and animated image supply.
The move came amidst an intense U.K. regulatory crackdown on technology deals allegedly aimed towards eliminating smaller players. CMA officials have regretted the ratification of past deals like Facebook’s Instagram acquisition.
Facebook has assured full cooperation with the CMA. The merger served the interests of every U.K. service user, including developers, service providers, and content creators, stated Facebook.
Price action: FB shares traded higher by 1.48% at $298.87 on the last check Thursday.