Killer Acquisitions

• Department of Law

The EUI Competition Law Working Group hosts a conversation with Marc Ivaldi.

Killer acquisitions occupy the centre stage in merger policy discussions. The concept refers to acquisitions where the sole intention of the buyer is to terminate the operations of the seller post-transaction. Although the concept originally addressed pharmaceuticals markets, scholars claim that killer acquisitions occur in digital markets as well. This paper attempts to develop a three-pronged method to test that proposition. We look at post-transaction output levels, competitor perception, and industry events in 11 European Commission merger decisions in the ICT sector. The available evidence yields little support that killer acquisitions could have been involved in EC merger cases in digital markets. We outline policy implications based on our results.