The UK Competition Appeal Tribunal rejects an appeal by a Big Tech firm which sought to block an order forcing the firm to unwind an acquisition but refers the case back to the Competition Authority on a procedural error (Meta / Giphy)

On 30 November 2021, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) concluded its Phase 2 investigation into Meta’s completed acquisition of Giphy (which closed in May 2020), ordering Meta to reverse the deal and sell Giphy to a CMA-approved purchaser (for further details, see VBB on Competition Law, Volume 2021, No. 4 and VBB on Competition Law, Volume 2021, No. 11). On 23 December 2021, Meta applied to the UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal (“CAT”) to quash the CMA’s prohibition decision based on six grounds (summarised here). In a judgment delivered on 14 June 2022, the CAT dismissed all of Meta’s grounds of appeal apart from a purely procedural ground related to confidentiality redactions (also referred to as “excisions”). It is worth noting that, two weeks later, on 27 June