Flight cancelled: the EC's prohibition of the Booking / Etraveli deal

The recent European Commission decision to prohibit the acquisition of Etraveli by Booking.com marks an important departure from previous practice and guidance for non-horizontal mergers and is of particular relevance to digital mergers involving ecosystem theories of harm. 

In particular, companies with entrenched market positions in digital markets could face increased scrutiny and challenges in pursuing mergers where they have no or limited presence in a neighbouring market.

We discuss the deal, the EC's theories of harm, the points of divergence with the decision of the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), and the implications of this decision for future digital mergers in our latest LinkingCompetition post.