Payment Software Deal Cleared By UK’s CMA

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has been investigating Bottomline Technology’s completed purchase of the Experian Payments Gateway (EPG) business from Experian Limited.

Bottomline and EPG provide payments software used by businesses to submit direct debits, make payroll payments and pay suppliers. This software allows customers of both companies to make payments via the Bacs and Faster Payments Direct Corporate Access systems.

After completing its initial Phase 1 investigation, the CMA was concerned that the merger may reduce competition, leading to increased prices, reduced product availability, or reduced investment in innovation. As such, the deal was referred to an in-depth Phase 2 probe.

Following this further analysis, carried out by an independent group of panel members, the CMA announced in February that it had provisionally found the deal would not negatively impact competition, reported the CMA in a statement. 

This is largely because EPG was no longer a strong force in the market and that, following the deal, there remains enough alternative companies competing with Bottomline for customers. The CMA also looked in detail at the possibility that, under alternative ownership, EPG would have become a more active competitor than it was before the merger, but determined that this was not the case.

Full Content: Gov UK

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