Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, WORTH NOTING—Other Antitrust and Trade Regulation developments, (Sep 6, 2016)

A periodic roundup of other items of interest to the Antitrust and Trade Regulation community:

ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS NEWS: The European Commission (EC) has approved under the European Union (EU) merger regulation the acquisition of GE Capital division GE Money Bank, Sorefi SCA, Somafi-Soguafi SCA and GE Financement Pacifique SAS of France by the Cerberus Group of the United States, the EC announced on September 2. The four companies and Cerberus Group provide banking services to retail customers and small and medium enterprises. The Cerberus Group provides banking services in Austria and the United Kingdom while the four companies are active in France. The Commission concluded that the proposed acquisition would raise no competition concerns because there are no overlaps between the companies’ activities in the European Economic Area.

ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS NEWS: The Canada Competition Bureau has reached an agreement with Crop Production Services Inc. (CPS) to sell certain retail outlets to resolve competition concerns related to its proposed acquisition of Andrukow Group Solutions Inc., the Bureau has announced. CPS, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Agrium Inc., and Andrukow both provide products and services to Western Canadian growers, including fertilizers, crop protection products, seeds, and agronomic services. The Bureau’s review of the transaction concluded that it would likely lead to a substantial lessening or prevention of competition in the retail supply of nitrogen-based fertilizers to farmers in certain markets in Alberta and Saskatchewan. Under the terms of the agreement, CPS will sell retail outlets in Sedgewick, Wainwright, St. Paul and Marwayne, in Alberta. This agreement addresses competition concerns and preserves competition for the retail sale of fertilizers to farmers in Alberta and Saskatchewan.

ANTITRUST NEWS: Following an investigation by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), Expedia and Booking.com have reached agreement to amend price and availability parity clauses in their contracts with Australian hotels and accommodation providers, the ACCC has announced. Parity clauses generally require accommodation providers to offer best price and availability to online travel sites. This guarantees the online travel site the accommodation provider’s lowest rate and prevents competitors and consumers from negotiating better deals directly with the provider. The ACCC conducted a range of market inquiries, including an online questionnaire to Australian accommodation providers seeking information about their dealings with online travel sites. After reviewing over 500 responses and speaking with industry participants, the ACCC identified the key issues as the use of broad price parity and room availability clauses by online travel sites. The agreements extend to the largest online travel sites used in Australia for Australian accommodation including Booking.com, Wotif.com, Hotels.com, and Expedia.com and will remove barriers to price competition between major online travel sites for hotel bookings.

Companies: GE Money Bank; Sorefi SCA; Somafi-Soguafi SCA; GE Financement Pacifique SAS; The Cerberus Group LLC; Crop Production Services Inc.; Andrukow Group Solutions Inc.; Expedia, Inc.; Booking.com Limited

News: AcquisitionsMergers Antitrust