Jan 22 (Reuters) - Britain's decision to force out the chair of its antitrust regulator after he failed to prioritise the Labour government's growth agenda indicates the country's attempt to rein in Big Tech could be over.
Marcus Bokkerink was replaced at the Competition and Markets Authority $(CMA)$ late on Tuesday by Amazon's former boss in Britain, Doug Gurr.
Here is the list of some high-profile cases under review by the UK's CMA.
Case title | Case stage | CMA remarks | Deadline |
Probe into Google's general search, search ad services | Launched strategic market status designation probe | To assess Google's position in search, search advertising services | Oct. 13, 2025 |
Mobile browsers and cloud gaming | Set for publication of final report for case involving Meta, Alphabet, Apple, BT, Vodafone, among others | CMA said some inherent aspects of the supply of mobile browsers are contributing to competition issues, and revenue sharing arrangement between Apple and Google is likely to reduce competition | March 16, 2025 |
Probe into Google's "Privacy Sandbox" browser changes | CMA in talks with Google on changes to commitments | Accepts company's commitments including proposals to remove third-party cookies from Chrome browser | |
Probe into suspected anti-competitive conduct by Google in ad tech | Receipt of written and oral representations on the statement of objections | Google harmed competition by using its dominance in online display advertising to favour its own ad tech services | |
IBM's $6.4 bln acquisition of HashiCorp | Phase 1 | Investigating potential competition concerns involved in the anticipated $6.4 bln acquisition by IBM of HashiCorp | Feb. 25, 2025 |
Synopsys' $35 bln purchase of Synopsys | CMA to consider undertakings offered | CMA believes it might accept remedies offered by parties including the divestment of some businesses, if it were to clear Ansys' $35 bln purchase by Synopsys | |
ForFarmers/Boparan joint venture | Phase 2 | CMA is undertaking its in-depth phase 2 probe under the revised processes for such investigations, after initial probe found the potential joint venture between ForFarmers and Boparan could lead to competition concerns | May 13, 2025 |
Global Business Travel's $570 mln deal to buy CWT Holdings | Interim report published | Provisionally found competition concerns as part of in-depth probe into Global Business Travel's $570 mln deal to buy CWT Holdings | March 9, 2025 |
Keysight's $1.5 bln acquisition of Spirent | Phase 1 | CMA is considering whether Keysight's $1.5 bln acquisition of Spirent would result in substantial lessening of competition | March 13, 2025 |
Blackrock's $3.2 bln acquisition of Preqin | Merger inquiry launched | CMA has not yet launched its formal probe after considering whether Blackrock's $3.2 bln acquisition of UK data group Preqin could raise competition issues, and have invited initial views from parties involved | Feb. 12, 2025 |
Schlumberger's (SLB's) $8 bln purchase of ChampionX | Invited comments as part of information gathering process | CMA has not yet launched its formal probe into Schlumberger's $8 bln purchase of ChampionX, but has issued preliminary invitation to comment after seeing potential competition concerns |
(Compiled by Aby Jose Koilparambil and Dhanush Vignesh Babu in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)
((abyjose.koilparambil@thomsonreuters.com))
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