Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta has come out strongly against “killer” acquisitions, according to remarks she made Tuesday (Sept. 14) at an antitrust enforcement symposium.
Gupta was talking about acquisitions involving competitors to large companies, which can sometimes be made because they undermine competition that could threaten monopolies, which are referred to as “killer acquisitions.”
The speech mentions Visa’s proposed acquisition of Plaid as a “prime example,” with Visa reportedly trying to “buy up a rival” that was poised to disrupt the industry. The department sued to block the merger and the companies abandoned the idea — with Plaid still independent.
“The department will not shy away from similar challenges in the future,” she said, according to the release. “Killer acquisitions can sideline or silence ideas that might eliminate the barriers keeping too many Americans out of banking, housing and healthcare markets. We will therefore closely scrutinize acquisitions involving dominant firms and would-be rivals. In doing so, we should be careful not to discourage investment in new startups. But we should also remember that startups cannot thrive without a competitive economy.”
Quoting her remarks, the release finds her interested in the “renewed interest in antitrust,” after a period where it was mostly seen as a narrow, highly technical field.
“What explains this renewed interest in antitrust?” she said. “I think it’s the realization that robust antitrust enforcement is critically important for advancing economic justice.”
The release says Gupta sees the importance of holding companies accountable, as companies often exploit individuals and “tilt the playing field in favor of the already-powerful.”
In other antitrust news, the ruling came down recently that tech giant Apple isn’t allowed to force consumers to use its in-app purchasing.
Read more: Apple Can’t Force In-App Purchasing
Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers has made an injunction so Apple isn’t able to bar developers from setting up links or communicating in ways to steer users away from Apple’s purchasing system, addressing a longstanding conflict.
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