Big companies are typically bought up by even bigger companies, and this never really sits with the government. For example, Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard did not go unnoticed by the FTC. Not only that but the CMA is now looking into the transaction.
Now, the CMA has to review Meta’s forced sale of Gify
For the most part, it seemed that Meta was going to need to sell Gify as per the CMA’s wishes. The company was taken to court over the matter, and the UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal ruled in favor of the CMA on five out of six counts. The last count went in Meta’s favor, and that’s what’s keeping this acquisition afloat. During the ruling, the CMA failed to state that Snapchat owns another large GIF depot called Gfycat. The argument is, if Snapchat can own its own GIF platform, why can’t Meta? That’s the thing that the CMA needs to justify. Due to this oversight, the CMA now needs to return to the drawing board and review its case. “We have agreed to reconsider our decision in light of this finding”, a CMA spokesperson stated. As with any legal battle, it will be a matter of months before anything actually happens. The CMA said that it wants to have this process done within the next three months. After that’s finished, we will see Facebook‘s owner in the hot seat again. When both sides return to the court, it could very well be the battle to decide if Meta needs to sell Gify. If the company is forced to sell Gify, we can only wonder if Snapchat would be next on the chopping block.
