The US will adapt its guidelines on business mergers to the digital market

The government of U.S announced that it will modernize its guidelines to allow or block business mergers, with the aim of adapting them to a digital market in which giants such as Alphabet (Google) or Meta (Facebook) break traditional schemes.

The United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC, for its acronym in English) and the antitrust division of the Department of Justice explained that the first step for this modernization that begins now is to gather information and suggestions from the public.

“I want to call for participation beyond the antitrust community. I want consumers, entrepreneurs, startups, farmers, investors, and independent companies to share their thoughts,” said FTC Chair Lina Khan.

He added that there have been “major technological and economic changes” that have “affected the way businesses compete and grow” and that is why it is necessary to ensure that the new guidelines “accurately reflect the reality of the modern economy.”

The modernization of the guidelines should help the FTC and the Department of Justice to consolidate a pattern in which large technology companies fit that have nothing to do with the way traditional companies operate because they offer, for example, free products to consumers. consumers.

The two largest antitrust cases opened by US authorities in the last two years – both still pending trial – fall into this category: one against Alphabet, the parent company of Google, and another against Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram.

These two companies offer free services to the public (except for some specific products that require payment, but whose importance is less), so it is difficult to apply to them the historical antitrust argument that excessive concentration leads to an increase in prices.

“Digital transformation has profoundly altered mergers in the last 20 years and the supply chain is now interconnected in very complex ways. We need a merger policy that provides a fair and competitive environment,” Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust Jonathan Kanter said at the press conference.

Just a few hours before the joint press conference by regulators, Microsoft announced on Tuesday the acquisition of Activision Blizzard for US $ 68.7 billion, one of the largest video game companies in the world and responsible for well-known titles such as “Warcraft”, “Call of Duty” and “Candy Crush”.

In a statement, the tech giant said the purchase would make it the third largest company in the video game sector behind Tencent and Sony.

The acquisition will be the largest in Microsoft’s history, far surpassing the slightly more than $26 billion it paid in 2016 to acquire LinkedIn.

Asked about this operation, the spokeswoman for the White House, Jen Psaki, referred to the announcement by the FTC and the Department of Justice and assured that, although it is not linked to the specific case of Microsoft, the process opened today is a step ” crucial” to President Joe Biden’s goal of “strengthening crackdowns on illegal mergers.”