The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced on Thursday, December 17, that it is starting an investigation into Adevinta ASA’s acquisition of eBay’s classified-ads business to see if the deal will lead to a lessening of competition in the country.
The CMA will investigate the sale of the US eBay Advertising branch to Norwegian Adevinta worth US$9.2 billion. The advertising branch also includes the Dutch market place.
The CMA is going to see if the acquisition is hindering competition. There is a deadline for a provisional decision on February 16. Adevinta is already active with internet advertisements in, inter alia, the United Kingdom and is therefore looking into the possibility of competition problems arising from the deal. The European Commission could also investigate.
The deal between eBay and Adevinta was announced earlier this year. The tech investor, Prosus, who was quoted in Amsterdam, seemed to be leading the advertising division of eBay for a long time, but misjudged it.
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