UK Court Sends Meta Giphy Case Back to Antitrust Watchdog

Meta’s purchase of the GIF search engine Giphy will be sent back to the U.K. antitrust regulator for a further review after a court flagged concerns with the agency’s initial investigation.

The ruling, made public Monday (July 18), comes after the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) blocked the Facebook parent company’s acquisition of Giphy last year, due to concerns that it would hurt competitiveness in the market for display advertising and in the provision of gifs on Meta’s social media platforms.

The Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) largely backed the CMA’s initial decision to force Meta to sell Giphy, but ruled that the regulator failed to properly inform Meta of Snapchat’s acquisition of Gfyca, information that could have helped the company’s defense.

The CAT’s objection to the CMA’s case was announced in June, but only now have they asked the CMA to reinvestigate. During the CAT trial, Meta accused the CMA of being “irrational” and “inconsistent” when it determined Giphy was a competitor in the display advertising market.

Read more: Meta Challenges Order to Kill $315M Deal to Acquire Giphy

Although the appeals tribunal held up every other aspect of the CMA’s ruling, the latest announcement will be perceived as an important victory for Meta’s legal team and will give them the chance to make a fresh case.

See also: Although the Meta’s Giphy Deal Narrowly Clears UK Regulator — for Now

The ruling effectively means that the CMA’s original decision ordering Facebook to sell Giphy is on pause, with the order now “provisional” and again set to be reassessed after Meta’s lawyers are given more documentation relating to the case and the chance to resubmit their own argument.

Meta bought Giphy for $315 million in May 2020, and the CMA’s decision in 2021 marked the first time a global regulator had attempted to force a Big Tech firm to unwind a completed deal.

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