Big tech’s acquisition challenge to EU merger control

ABSTRACT In recent years, there has been a tidal wave of merger filings involving large digital firms acquiring low turnover but high value start-ups. The vast majority of those transactions have flown under the radar of EU and National Competition Authorities and, among the few which have been reviewed, none has been blocked. Competition scholars wonder whether there has been a systematic bias towards under-enforcement against acquisitions of start-ups by already dominant tech firms. Some Member States are calling for a reform of the EU merger control’s notification system and an adaptation of the substantive test to effectively address cases of potentially predatory acquisitions.