The American company Meta (formerly Facebook) sent a statement to the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) demanding to reconsider the decision, according to which it should sell the animated images service Giphy to another market player. This is reported by TASS with reference to the appeal commission of the British regulator.
Meta disagrees that its acquisition of Giphy will result in a “significant reduction in competition” in the market. According to the company, CMA’s actions were characterized by serious “procedural flaws”.
Giphy is a platform for creating and sharing GIF animations that are used by various social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Snapchat and TikTok, as well as Apple for iMessage. Meta acquired the company in May 2020. Then the amount of the transaction was not disclosed, but the Axios publication estimated it at $ 400 million.
Meta intended to integrate Giphy into its Instagram, but was forced to suspend the process due to the CMA’s antitrust review. As a result, the British department came to the conclusion that after purchasing the platform, Meta could restrict its competitors access to animated images or force them to provide more personal user data in exchange. The CMA estimates Meta controls about half of the UK display advertising market.
In October 2021, the CMA issued a $ 69.5 million fine to Meta for evading regular disclosures as part of a transaction review, which was a requirement for Meta to compete with Giphy in the same way it would have done without the merger. The department said that the American company “significantly limited the volume” of its reports on the implementation of this requirement, despite repeated warnings.
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