The UK’s Competition Authority (CMA) ordered Meta to sell animation company Giphy again on Tuesday, after an appeal by Facebook’s parent company failed.
Founded in 2013 and based in New York, Giphy is one of the leading gif sharing platforms with over 700 million daily users.
Almost a year after the CMA’s initial decision, then Meta’s appeal to the UK court, which ruled in favor of the regulator, again believes that “the only way to avoid major impactThe social media giant’s takeover of Giphy on the contest “sell completely“society. The markets at risk from this takeover, according to the CMA, are the UK online advertising market and the social media market.
Meta said it will put the acquired business up for sale in 2020 for $400 million, in accordance with the regulator’s request. “We will be working closely with the CMA on this sale.“, the press spokesman said.“ We are grateful to the Giphy team for their business during this uncertain time and wish them the best of luck. We will continue to assess opportunities, including through acquisition, to bring innovation and choice to more people in the UK and around the world.»
Penalty for pursuing Giphy integration
During the appeal hearing in April, Meta’s lawyers argued that the platform had not received a firm offer to buy Giphy, which they said showed its growth prospects in the UK advertising market were not necessarily stratospheric.
An alternative offer of $142 million had been discussed by Snap, the parent company of the social network Snapchat, but the latter had finally set its sights on Gyfcat, a rival platform to Giphy, a source close to the file told AFP.
According to the same source, the presence of Gyfcat, as well as Google-owned Tenor, is likely to guarantee other platforms access to “gifs,” animated graphic images, which was another concern. CMA.
For Meta, the acquisition was specifically a way to integrate Instagram, the photo and video sharing service, with Giphy’s massive library.
In October 2021, the CMA also fined Meta £50.5m in the context of its merger with Giphy for continuing to integrate the two companies despite an ongoing investigation.
Source: Le Figaro
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