'The More the Better': Strengthening EU Strategies to Combat Killer Acquisitions' Impact on Innovation in the Digital Market
(2024) HARN63 20241Department of Business Law
- Abstract
- The increasing dynamism in the market has highlighted the limits of the current regulatory framework to counter potentially anti-competitive mergers. Highly innovation-intensive markets, such as the digital industry, represent a wake-up call given the rise of large tech firms. These have drawn the attention of regulators given the practice of acquiring innovative start-ups with a relevant competitive prospectus and subsequently discontinuing their projects, potentially resulting in lasting damage to competition. These transactions, referred to as killer acquisitions, often fall below the jurisdictional turnover thresholds of the Merger Regulation, effectively evading qualification for regulatory scrutiny. This factor, in addition to the... (More)
- The increasing dynamism in the market has highlighted the limits of the current regulatory framework to counter potentially anti-competitive mergers. Highly innovation-intensive markets, such as the digital industry, represent a wake-up call given the rise of large tech firms. These have drawn the attention of regulators given the practice of acquiring innovative start-ups with a relevant competitive prospectus and subsequently discontinuing their projects, potentially resulting in lasting damage to competition. These transactions, referred to as killer acquisitions, often fall below the jurisdictional turnover thresholds of the Merger Regulation, effectively evading qualification for regulatory scrutiny. This factor, in addition to the uncertainty in the case evidence, highlights a gap in the merger control mechanism that has led regulators to look for multiple solutions to safeguard competition and innovation within the EU internal market. As new market dynamics come into being, competition law cannot remain static and observant. For this reason, new tools have been envisaged to prevent these companies from consolidating their dominance in the market. The concrete actions taken by regulators represent a change in approach, with the recalibration of the referral mechanism under Article 22 of the Merger Regulation through the release of new guidance. Moreover, regarding the designated gatekeeper in the digital market, the Digital Markets Act. However, the possibility of relying on more instruments, at the same time, raises concerns about the effectiveness of these in effectively promoting innovation through the assessment of mergers and the consequent risk of over-enforcement. The interplay between the envisaged EU competition policy mechanisms clearly exists, notwithstanding at an evolving stage. However, given the difficulty represented by the fast-evolving environment in which they intervene and the differing opinions on the matter, it is complicated to date to determine the consistency in the law of these and the consequent implications on innovation competition. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9158685
- author
- Borsetti, Davide LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- HARN63 20241
- year
- 2024
- type
- H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
- subject
- keywords
- Merger & Acquisitions, EU Merger Regulation, Article 22 EUMR, European Commission, Digital Markets Act, Article 14 DMA, Killer Acquisitions, Innovation
- language
- English
- id
- 9158685
- date added to LUP
- 2024-06-10 09:56:07
- date last changed
- 2024-06-10 09:56:07
@misc{9158685,
abstract = {{The increasing dynamism in the market has highlighted the limits of the current regulatory framework to counter potentially anti-competitive mergers. Highly innovation-intensive markets, such as the digital industry, represent a wake-up call given the rise of large tech firms. These have drawn the attention of regulators given the practice of acquiring innovative start-ups with a relevant competitive prospectus and subsequently discontinuing their projects, potentially resulting in lasting damage to competition. These transactions, referred to as killer acquisitions, often fall below the jurisdictional turnover thresholds of the Merger Regulation, effectively evading qualification for regulatory scrutiny. This factor, in addition to the uncertainty in the case evidence, highlights a gap in the merger control mechanism that has led regulators to look for multiple solutions to safeguard competition and innovation within the EU internal market. As new market dynamics come into being, competition law cannot remain static and observant. For this reason, new tools have been envisaged to prevent these companies from consolidating their dominance in the market. The concrete actions taken by regulators represent a change in approach, with the recalibration of the referral mechanism under Article 22 of the Merger Regulation through the release of new guidance. Moreover, regarding the designated gatekeeper in the digital market, the Digital Markets Act. However, the possibility of relying on more instruments, at the same time, raises concerns about the effectiveness of these in effectively promoting innovation through the assessment of mergers and the consequent risk of over-enforcement. The interplay between the envisaged EU competition policy mechanisms clearly exists, notwithstanding at an evolving stage. However, given the difficulty represented by the fast-evolving environment in which they intervene and the differing opinions on the matter, it is complicated to date to determine the consistency in the law of these and the consequent implications on innovation competition.}},
author = {{Borsetti, Davide}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{'The More the Better': Strengthening EU Strategies to Combat Killer Acquisitions' Impact on Innovation in the Digital Market}},
year = {{2024}},
}