Brussels – The European Commission has approved under the EU Merger Regulation the acquisition of Yahoo Holdings, Inc. by Verizon Communications Inc., both of the US. Verizon (through AOL) and Yahoo are both active in a number of content, search, communication services and advertising services. The Commission concluded that the proposed acquisition would not raise any competition concerns given the companies’ moderate market positions, the limited increments brought by the proposed transaction and the presence of a number of strong players providing such services. Both parties have user data that can be used for advertising purposes. The Commission also analysed potential data concentration as a result of the acquisition with regard to its potential impact on competition in the Single Market. It excluded any competition concerns because a large amount of such user data will continue to be available on the market after the transaction. The transaction was examined under the normal merger review procedure.
