Articles tagged “antitrust”

There are enough parallels in the way that the Zillow-Trulia merger made it through the antitrust regulatory process that you can almost bet the house that the Expedia-Orbitz Worldwide merger will squeak through as well.

The antitrust prospects of Expedia Inc.'s $1.6 billion acquisition of Orbitz Worldwide hinge on which prism competition authorities choose to view the deal. Expedia would have a 75 percent share of the U.S. online travel agency market but consumers have plenty of other ways to book their trips, too.

Booking.com likely faced penalties and findings that it infringed on competition laws if it hadn't come to terms with regulatory authorities in France, Italy and Sweden. This agreement appears to disadvantage Booking.com versus its competitors -- unless authorities compel them to sign similar pacts.

Kudos to the European Union for ensuring that Google doesn't wield its market power with excessive advantage in promoting its own services. The U.S. FTC's decision to avoid taking similar actions is a regulatory blemish, although the EU agreement could put more pressure on the FTC to take another look at these issues.

The case is a signal of the growing tension between hotel operators and online-booking companies that help fill rooms, but take a piece of the profits in the process.

The two CEOs, Parker and Horton, are still writing joint Doug and Tom letters, showing they feel confident that they will be able to settle this whole thing. They plan to argue that Southwest is the real kingmaker when it comes to establishing airfare pricing and the Justice Department suit downplayed Southwest's role.

The Justice Department lawsuit against American Airlines and US Airways, and their marriage vows, would make more sense if it was part of a more comprehensive drive to correct the negative impacts of previously approved mergers.

The merger would clearly benefit American Airlines and US Airways, and the best argument that can be made for it is that it could lead to a more stable airline industry. But, the airlines defy belief when they argue that it would lead to lower fares and more connecting flights.

This agreement between InterContinental Hotels, and Expedia and Booking.com is game-changing not for its short-term impact, but for the more far-reaching reverberations, and new regulatory actions that it will ultimately lead to.

The issues involved in the American Airlines case have been brewing for YEARS. It's high time that a court decides these antitrust issues.