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UK: PayPal-iZettle takeover in CMA crosshairs

By  |  December 5, 2018

Britain’s competition watchdog announced on Wednesday, December 5, that PayPal’s US$2.2 billion takeover of Swedish financial technology startup iZettle would be referred for an in-depth review.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) stated PayPal had refused to offer proposals to address its concerns on how the deal—PayPal’s biggest ever—could hurt competition and could lead to higher prices for customers, or worse quality of service.

The regulator had also flagged concerns surrounding competition in the emerging market for “omni-channel” payment services as a result of the merger.

PayPal’s acquisition of iZettle, which would allow the US payments processor to expand into the retail payment terminals business in international markets, closed in September.

Full Content: Financial Times & Gov UK

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