The EU Commission unconditionally approves in first phase the acquisition of a real time messaging services provider by a social networking company (Facebook / WhatsApp)

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Reference

European Commission, M.7217 Facebook/WhatsApp, 3 October 2014

"What's Up with Merger Control in the Digital Sector? Lessons from the Facebook/WhatsApp EU merger case"* The Facebook/WhatsApp decision provides an insight into how the Commission tackles novel issues in the application of merger control rules to the digital sector, in particular to free consumer communications services. These issues range from the Commission's jurisdiction and the definition of the relevant market, to the relevance of market shares, the role of network effects and the significance of user data in the competitive assessment. 1. Introduction On 3 October 2014, the Commission unconditionally approved in first phase the acquisition of WhatsApp by Facebook. Facebook (via Facebook Messenger) and WhatsApp both offer applications for smartphones (apps) which allow

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Authors

  • European Parliament (Brussels)
    Belgium 4 contributions 3222 visits
  • European Commission
    Belgium 1 contribution 684 visits
  • European Commission - Legal Service (Brussels)
    Belgium 2 contributions 1203 visits

Quotation

Eleonora Ocello, Anatoly Subocs, Cristina Sjödin, The EU Commission unconditionally approves in first phase the acquisition of a real time messaging services provider by a social networking company (Facebook / WhatsApp), 3 October 2014, e-Competitions October 2014, Art. N° 72123

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