Author: 21st Century Competition

UK: Murdoch’s BSkyB deal saves cash for Time Warner (Competition Policy International)

Rupert Murdoch-owned Twenty-first Century Fox is said to be gearing up for renewed efforts to acquire Time Warner in the US with a recent round of divestitures.

According to reports, Fox reached a deal with BSkyB to sell all of its shares in Sky Italia and in Sky Deutschland to the …read more

Spain: EU needs more time to mull Holcim, Cemex deal (Competition Policy International)

The European Commission has reportedly extended its deadline to rule on Cemex’s proposed acquisition of rival Holcim in Spain.

The Commission announced Tuesday that it will now decide on the transaction by the middle of September. Its previous deadline was early September, and the authority did not specify why it extended …read more

US: AmEx argues high fees are crucial to competition (Competition Policy International)

American Express is defending its high interchange fees in court against claims by the US Department of Justice that those fees harm competition, according to reports.

AmEx president of the company’s US consumer services business Joshua Silverman testified in court this week to defend those high fees, arguing that they are …read more

UK: Former OFT slammed for ‘flawed’ pricing investigation (Competition Policy International)

The former Office of Fair Trading, which was recently merged with the Competition Commission to become the Competition and Markets Authority, conducted a flawed competition probe into online hotel pricing companies, Skyscanner claims.

According to reports, Skyscanner argues that an agreement the OFT reached with rivals Intercontinental Hotels Group, Expedia and …read more