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☆ Amazon and Roomba maker call off acquisition deal, iRobot lays off staff instead
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-29 | by ( Jennifer Korn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Amazon and iRobot, the maker of the popular Roomba vacuum, mutually called off their estimated $1.7 billion acquisition deal Monday, citing numerous regulatory hurdles. Amazon (AMZN), which was up about 0.5% in noon trading, will pay iRobot a previously agreed-upon $94 million cancellation fee. IRobot said the restructuring plan, impacting around 350 employees, is intended to save the company up to $150 million. In November, the European Commission said the deal could hamper competition in the robot vacuum sector. Earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal reported that the European Commission planned to block the deal.

Persons: iRobot, Colin Angle, Glen Weinstein, IRobot, “, ” Andrew Miller, iRobot’s, ” David Zapolsky, Lina Khan, ”, Meta Organizations: CNN, European, Federal Trade, European Union, European Commission, Wall Street Journal, Amazon, Federal Trade Commission, Commission, Amazon . Tech, Adobe, EU, UK, Nvidia, UK’s Competition, Markets Authority, Activision Blizzard, CMA Locations: Europe

☆ Dave Portnoy's Barstool Sports used sock puppet accounts to avoid copyright takedowns, Daily Beast reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-13 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The Daily Beast found more than 40 accounts used by Barstool Sports to repost copyrighted material. The accounts ripped and posted copyrighted clips embedded and reposted by Barstool, per The Daily Beast. Using the site's password reset system, The Daily Beast discovered the accounts were associated with email addresses under the barstoolsports.com domain. However, Barstool accounts could still repost from the shadow accounts without fear of being impacted by the takedown notices. "Their business is built on stealing other people's IP," The Daily Beast reported Rubin said of Barstool.

Persons: It's, Barstool, Dave Portnoy —, Portnoy, Erika Ayers Badan, Miel Bredouw, Brigitte Stelzer, Ben Rubin, they'd, Rubin Organizations: Barstool Sports, Barstool, Service, Daily, Beast, Copyright Locations: Wall, Silicon

☆ Analysis: Microsoft tests the limits of Britain's antitrust authority
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Paul Sandle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The European Union approved the deal in May, when it accepted commitments to license games to rival platforms. At the same time, Microsoft offered a "detailed and complex" new proposal to the CMA, prompting the regulator to take the unprecedented step of reopening talks. The CMA said it was awaiting further Microsoft submissions on what had changed and how it would restructure the transaction. "We will then consider whether the proposals create a new merger situation and address the CMA's competition concerns," a spokesperson said on Tuesday. CLOSED FOR BUSINESSAfter the CMA block, Microsoft thundered that Britain was closed for business; exactly what the government did not want to hear as it tries to reignite the economy after the uncertainty sparked by Brexit.

Persons: we've, Becket McGrath, they're, Brexit, Tom Smith, Brad Smith, Jeremy Hunt, Meta, Smith, Marcus Smith, Gareth Mills, Charles Russell Speechlys, Sam Tobin, James Davey, Kate Holton, Sharon Singleton Organizations: CMA, Microsoft, U.S, Activision Blizzard, Markets Authority, Xbox, FTC, Reuters, European Union, Activision, CAT, Euclid Law, Geradin Partners, Brexit, Britain's, Facebook, Meta, Markets Unit, Thomson Locations: U.S, Barcelona, Brexit, London, Brussels, British, United States, Britain

☆ Shutterstock shares pop as company expands partnership with OpenAI
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Shutterstock chief technology officer James Chou (C) rings the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange on February 14, 2014 in New York City. Shares of Shutterstock popped 10% Tuesday after the company announced an expanded, six-year partnership with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI. Shutterstock will continue to leverage OpenAI's text-to-image generation and allow customers to use "synthetic editing capabilities" to alter any image in the Shutterstock library. Shutterstock began its strategic partnership with OpenAI in 2021. In October 2022, the company announced it would begin to bring OpenAI's image generation capabilities to its customers.

Persons: James Chou, Shutterstock Organizations: New York Stock Exchange, ChatGPT, Meta, OpenAI Locations: New York City

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Apple, Meta Platforms, Carnival, Nike and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Brian Evans | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

In this photo illustration, the 2023 Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC 23) logo is displayed on a smartphone screen. Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading Friday. Citi also slapped a $240 price target on the stock, the highest on the Street. SolarEdge — The solar stock rose 3.3% after Bank of America raised its price target to $396 from $379. Bright Health Group — Shares added 2.6% in midday trading after the health insurer announced a deal to sell its California Medicare Advantage business to Molina Healthcare for roughly $600 million.

Persons: Goldman Sachs, Xpeng, —, Alex Harring, Tanaya Macheel, Sarah Min Organizations: Developers, Apple —, Citi, Journal, SEC, BlackRock, Pacific Biosciences, Bank of America, Bright Health, Molina Healthcare, Nike —, Nike, Markets Authority, Jefferies Locations: Thursday's, California

☆ Facebook-Giphy sale shows how fear of regulators is slowing M&A market
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Instagram chief Adam Mosseri touted Giphy's "amazing team" and "expressive" userbase, and stressed Giphy's user data was "not the motivation." The sale was forced by the U.K.'s antitrust regulator, which ruled Meta's acquisition posed a risk to the social media and advertising markets. Jonathan Kanter, who helms the Department of Justice's Antitrust Unit, and Lina Khan, the Federal Trade Commission's chair, have been given wide latitude by President Joe Biden to pursue potentially anticompetitive behavior. Prior to his DOJ posting, Kanter worked in private practice, advising directors and executives on potential deals and attendant regulatory pitfalls. Van Grack, the former chief of the DOJ's Foreign Agent Registration Act unit, noted regulatory scrutiny was increasing for years prior to the current administration.

☆ Meta sells Giphy to Shutterstock at a loss in a $53 million deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-23 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The online stock-photo marketplace Shutterstock announced Tuesday it would acquire Giphy from Meta Platforms for $53 million, a significant loss for Meta, which acquired Giphy in 2020 for $315 million. The acquisition is an all-cash deal, and in an investor presentation, Shutterstock said it would maintain its full-year revenue guidance. U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority had ordered Meta to divest Giphy in 2022, citing potential anti-competitive effects. Like many technology companies, Meta has faced stiffening regulatory oversight in the U.S. as well. The FTC proposed a "blanket" ban preventing Meta from monetizing young user's data and alleged Meta had violated a 2020 privacy order.

Persons: Shutterstock, Shutterstock's, Meta Organizations: Meta, Markets Authority, CMA, Technology, Activision, FTC, CNBC Locations: Giphy, U.S

☆ Explainer: What next for Microsoft's $69 billion Activision deal after UK ban?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Paul Sandle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, April 28 (Reuters) - Britain's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) on Wednesday blocked Microsoft's (MSFT.O) $69 billion acquisition of 'Call of Duty' maker Activision Blizzard (ATVI.O) over concerns it would hinder cloud gaming. The regulator's decision reflected a flawed understanding of the market, it said. Microsoft can appeal to Britain's Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT), an independent judicial body, which will only examine the CMA's decision-making process, not the merits of the merger. "The CAT aims to deal with 'straightforward' cases in under nine months – and Microsoft/Activision is anything but straightforward," Lane, said. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint to block the deal, which Microsoft has indicated it will fight.

☆ Explainer: What next for Microsoft's $69 bln Activision deal after UK ban?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Paul Sandle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The regulator's decision reflected a flawed understanding of the market, it said. Microsoft can appeal to Britain's Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT), an independent judicial body, which will only examine the CMA's decision-making process, not the merits of the merger. "The CAT aims to deal with 'straightforward' cases in under nine months – and Microsoft/Activision is anything but straightforward," Lane, said. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint to block the deal, which Microsoft has indicated it will fight. The regulator then "identified certain potential errors" in its investigation chaired by Martin Coleman, who also oversaw the Microsoft-Activision case.

☆ UK blocks Microsoft's $69 bln Activision deal over cloud gaming concerns
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Paul Sandle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The country's antitrust regulator said on Wednesday that Microsoft's commitment to offer access to Activision's multi-billion dollar "Call of Duty" franchise to leading cloud gaming platforms would not effectively remedy its concerns. The gaming company also reported quarterly results on Wednesday, a day earlier than scheduled, beating quarterly bookings estimates although that seemed to do little to allay investor concerns about Britain's move. Europe will decide on the Activision deal by May 22. The CMA said the cloud gaming market was forecast to be worth 11 billion pounds ($13.7 billion) globally by 2026. The CMA said Microsoft had an estimated 60%-70% of global cloud gaming services as well as competitive advantages including owning Xbox, PC operating system Windows and cloud provider Azure.

☆ UK blocks Microsoft $69 bln Activision deal over cloud gaming concerns
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Paul Sandle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The country's antitrust regulator said on Wednesday that Microsoft's commitment to offer access to Activision's multi-billion dollar "Call of Duty" franchise to leading cloud gaming platforms would not effectively remedy its concerns. Microsoft announced its Activision bid in January 2022 to boost its firepower in a video gaming market led by Tencent (0700.HK) and Sony (6758.T). Europe will decide on the Activision deal by May 22. The CMA said the cloud gaming market was forecast to be worth 11 billion pounds ($13.7 billion) globally by 2026. The CMA said Microsoft had an estimated 60%-70% of global cloud gaming services as well as competitive advantages including owning Xbox, PC operating system Windows and cloud provider Azure.

☆ Microsoft’s blockbuster deal to buy Activision is in jeopardy. Here’s what could happen next
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

UK officials said Wednesday they will block the company’s $69 billion deal to acquire video game giant Activision-Blizzard. It could also complicate Microsoft’s future in the gaming industry and severely upend Activision, which was in the throes of an internal crisis in the months leading up to the deal. By buying Activision, Microsoft would become the third-largest video game publisher in the world after Tencent and Sony. (The UK dropped its concerns about the console market in March, while the European Union reportedly does not oppose the deal.) In a memo Wednesday to employees, Kotick attempted to strike an optimistic note, whatever the outcome of the deal may be.

☆ UK regulator holding up Microsoft's Activision deal set to get new powers to rein in Big Tech
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The U.K. government on Tuesday published a draft bill that would give a newly created division within the independent competition regulator powers to levy huge fines against Big Tech firms for competition abuses, and investigate and block acquisitions with greater speed. The draft Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers bill will take aim at tech companies with annual revenues of at least £25 billion ($31.2 billion) globally, or £1 billion in the U.K., according to a statement. That's sure to include Amazon , Apple , Google , Microsoft and Meta , which generated $514 billion, $394.33 billion, $282.8 billion, $198 billion and $116.6 billion in revenue respectively in 2022. The CMA has been at the center of some major Big Tech crackdowns lately. The watchdog has held up Microsoft's $69 billion acquisition of video game publisher Activision Blizzard with an in-depth competition investigation.

☆ Explainer: How Microsoft is addressing antitrust concerns over Activision deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WHAT IS THE ACTIVISION DEAL? The UK competition agency CMA has suggested divesting Call of Duty to address its concerns while the European Commission has warned Microsoft about the possible anti-competitive impact of the deal. A group of 10 gamers in the United States has filed a private consumer antitrust lawsuit over the deal. WHAT ARE THE NINTENDO AND NVIDIA LICENSING DEALS? Both companies have signed 10-year licensing deals that will bring Call of Duty to their gaming platforms but these are conditional on the Activision deal being approved.

WHAT IS THE ACTIVISION DEAL? A group of 10 gamers in the United States has filed a private consumer antitrust lawsuit over the deal. Both companies have signed 10-year licensing deals that will bring Call of Duty to their gaming platform if the Activision deal is approved. Spain's Nware also signed a 10-year deal to bring Xbox and Activision Blizzard games to the Spanish cloud-gaming platform. Microsoft's Smith said the company would fight the FTC's request to block the deal.

Persons: Tencent, Martin Coleman, Brad Smith, Smith, Spain's Nware, Meta, Microsoft's Smith, Foo Yun Chee, Aurora Ellis, Maju Samuel Organizations: U.S . Federal Trade Commission, Microsoft, Activision, ACTIVISION, HK, Sony, U.S . FTC, Britain's, Markets, FTC, Nintendo, Sony Group, CMA, Commission, WHO, United States, May, Games Development, UNI Global Union, Nvidia, MICROSOFT, Britain, NINTENDO, NVIDIA, Xbox, Activision Blizzard, Antitrust, Facebook, Thomson Locations: metaverse, U.S, United, Brazil, Chile, Serbia, Saudi Arabia

☆ Britain says Microsoft's 'Call of Duty' deal could harm gamers
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Paul Sandle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Activision games "Call of Duty" are pictured in a store in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., January 18, 2022. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri/File PhotoSummarySummary Companies Deal raises concerns- regulatorAcquisition threatens Xbox and PlayStation rivalryMicrosoft says committed to addressing concernsLONDON, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Britain's antitrust regulator said Microsoft's (MSFT.O) $69-billion purchase of "Call of Duty" maker Activision Blizzard (ATVI.O) could harm gamers by weakening the rivalry between Xbox and Sony's PlayStation. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said the deal could result in higher prices, fewer choices and less innovation for millions of gamers, as well as stifling competition in the growing cloud gaming market. In December, the United States moved to block the deal, citing Microsoft's record of hoarding valuable gaming content. Microsoft, which has pledged to keep "Call of Duty" on PlayStation, said it would address the CMA's concerns.

☆ Creator economy experts say 2023 will be a buyer's market for M&A. Here are 5 themes to watch, from tech buyers like Shopify to startup consolidation
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Marta Biino | Sydney Bradley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

"As a result, institutional acquirers, like PE firms who still have dry powder to spend, will start snatching up mid-to-large sized creator startups at much more advantageous prices." Insider spoke with creator-economy and market experts about what deals and the broader M&A landscape in 2023 may look like. "They're going to see that the creator economy exists as a direct failure of them to support creators," Gestetner said. "But if an opportunity arises for us to significantly enhance our capabilities to make us a better business powering the creator economy, we'll consider it." Startups can expect consolidation in saturated marketsThe crowded niches within the creator economy startup sphere could also face a wave of consolidation.

☆ It's just the beginning of M&A in the creator economy. Industry experts predict 2023's top trends, and the buyers and sellers to watch.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Marta Biino | Sydney Bradley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

"As a result, institutional acquirers, like PE firms who still have dry powder to spend, will start snatching up mid-to-large sized creator startups at much more advantageous prices." "They're going to see that the creator economy exists as a direct failure of them to support creators," Gestetner said. "But if an opportunity arises for us to significantly enhance our capabilities to make us a better business powering the creator economy, we'll consider it." Startups can expect consolidation in saturated marketsThe crowded niches within the creator economy startup sphere could also face a wave of consolidation. In the creator economy, companies bet on the fact that YouTube advertising revenue on the videos will increase as the audiences of creators grow and they gain more views.

☆ An antitrust battle over GIFs could be a wake-up call for Silicon Valley
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

But a long-running legal battle over who can control access to them, culminating this week in a rare defeat for Meta (META), the parent of Facebook, could have major ramifications for Big Tech regulation. On Tuesday, UK regulators forced Meta to unwind its 2020 purchase of Giphy, one of the largest searchable internet libraries of GIFs. “The Citadel may have been breached,” said Joel Mitnick, an antitrust attorney at the law firm Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft. The company said this week that it will continue to explore acquisitions despite the UK ruling. And US courts don’t typically take foreign antitrust rulings into account; their job is to interpret US law.

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☆ Facebook Parent Meta Ordered to Sell Giphy After Losing Fight in U.K.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Ian Walker | Sam Schechner | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Giphy allows its users to search for, create and share short animated videos on social media. The U.K.’s top competition authority said that Facebook owner Meta Platforms must sell social-media animated-images company Giphy, affirming an earlier ruling that its 2020 acquisition of the company could limit competition. The ruling all but ends a yearslong saga in which a foreign regulator made a rare intervention in an already-consummated deal between two American companies. British regulators had ordered Meta to operate Giphy separately while the deal was under review.

☆ Meta accepts UK order to sell Giphy after antitrust battle
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Shashwat Awasthi | Byron Kaye | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Meta said it would accept the Competition and Markets Authority's (CMA) order to unwind the 2020 deal. "We are disappointed by the CMA's decision but accept today's ruling as the final word on the matter," a Meta spokesperson said in a statement. Meta appealed the ruling, but a tribunal upheld the CMA's decision on five out of six grounds in June. The CMA said it had considered new submissions from Meta and Giphy and additional evidence since the appeal, but had not changed its view. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Paul Sandle; editing by William James and Bernadette BaumOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Meta will be forced to sell GIF platform Giphy after a groundbreaking ruling by UK regulators
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

British's competition regulator has ordered Meta, Facebook's parent company, to sell Giphy. Meta completed its purchase of Giphy in May 2020, but authorities began probing the deal soon after. Meta completed its purchase of Giphy in May 2020, with various news outlets putting the deal at between $300 and $400 million. The month after it ordered Meta to sell Giphy, which the social-media giant appealed. Bloomberg reported that this was the first time a global regulator has forced a Big Tech firm to go back on a completed deal.

☆ Meta says it will sell Giphy to comply with UK breakup order
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Washington CNN Business —Facebook-parent Meta plans to sell off Giphy, an online search tool for animated images, after the UK government said it would force the tech giant to unwind its acquisition of the service. For years, critics have accused the tech industry’s biggest players of seeking out “killer acquisitions” of smaller companies. In the United States, the alleged “buy-or-bury” strategy is at the center of a federal lawsuit aimed at forcing Meta to spin off WhatsApp and Instagram. The breakup attempt by the Federal Trade Commission could go to trial in 2024. The FTC has also sued to block Meta’s acquisition of a virtual reality technology company known as Within Unlimited, arguing that the deal could give Meta further power to establish a “virtual reality empire.”Meta is fighting both lawsuits.

☆ Facebook parent Meta admits defeat after $400 million Giphy deal is blocked by UK regulators
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Meta , the owner of Facebook, admitted defeat Tuesday after U.K. competition regulators issued a final verdict ordering the company to sell its animated image-making unit Giphy. "We will work closely with the CMA on divesting GIPHY," the Meta spokesperson told CNBC. In November, the CMA ordered Meta to divest Giphy after finding the combination of the two companies raised competition concerns. However, in June, a court largely ruled against the company's appeal, kicking the final decision over the fate of the deal back to the CMA. Meta's $400 million acquisition of Giphy was hardly one of the social media giant's biggest.

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