Competition

A proposed procedure for agreeing settlements in competition law investigations has been published for consultation. The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) has invited interested parties to share their views by 5pm on Friday 20 September 2024.

The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) is to carry out a full investigation into the proposed acquisition of Donegal's Inishowen Independent newspaper. Formpress Publishing, the owner and operator of a number of local and regional newspaper titles across Ireland, is proposing to p

Elon Musk's social media company X, formerly Twitter, is suing a group of major advertisers for allegedly organising an "illegal boycott" shortly after his acquisition. In a bizarre video posted to X, the company's CEO Linda Yaccarino said the legal action was a response to evidence recently heard b

The European Commission has launched a public consultation on new draft guidelines on exclusionary abuses of dominance, including predatory pricing, margin squeeze, exclusive dealing and refusal to supply. Such behaviour is banned under Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Un

The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) has cleared Maxol's proposed purchase of Naas Fuels, which owns seven service stations in the Leinster region. The proposed purchase was notified to the CCPC in December 2023. The CCPC determined in April 2024 that a full investigation was re

Apple is now legally required to provide rival mobile wallet providers with access to the contactless payment function on iPhones. The European Commission has made commitments offered by Apple legally binding under EU antitrust rules.

Microsoft breached EU competition rules by tying Teams to its Office 365 and Microsoft 365 productivity product suites, according to a preliminary investigation by the European Commission. The Commission yesterday announced it had informed the tech giant of its preliminary view that Microsoft gave T

A new simplified procedure for certain media mergers is to be introduced from next month. The Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media has said the new simplified media merger notification procedure will officially commence on Wednesday 10 April 2024.

The European Commission has alleged that Irish insulation company Kingspan provided incorrect, incomplete and misleading information during a 2021 merger investigation, raising the possibility of a significant fine. The allegations, set out in a statement of objections sent to the company today, con

An Post is unlikely to have breached competition law by only allowing retailers to sell Leap Cards if they are agents of its subsidiary PostPoint, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) has concluded. However, the CCPC made a number of recommendations followings its engagement wit

The European Commission has said it is examining whether Microsoft's investment in OpenAI is reviewable under EU merger rules as part of greater scrutiny of competition in the AI industry. The Commission today launched two calls for contributions on competition in virtual worlds and generative AI an

The proposed acquisition of iRadio by European radio group Bauer Media Audio has been cleared by the government. The deal had already been cleared by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) but required additional approval from the government as it is classed as a "media merger" un

The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) has published its strategy statement for 2024–26 — its first since gaining new enforcement powers through legislation. The strategy statement, which takes effect from 1 January 2024, sets out the four strategic goals which span th

A new regime of administrative fines for breaches of competition law — allowing the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) to impose fines of up to €10 million or 10 per cent of a company's global turnover — has come into effect. The Competition (Amendment) Act 2022,

America's Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and 17 state attorneys have sued retail giant Amazon, alleging that the company is a monopolist that uses anticompetitive and unfair strategies. The FTC and its state partners say Amazon’s actions allow it to stop rivals and sellers from lowering prices