UK: StubHub and Viagogo ordered "to pause" merger by competition authority

UK competition and market authority CMA has ordered the parent companies of ticket resale services Viagogo and StubHub to pause any merger process "for the time being," according to multiple UK media on 10/02/2020.

eBay had signed an agreement to sell StubHub to Viagogo, a competing platform, for $4.05bn (€3.68bn), the e-commerce group announced on 25/11/2019. The sale "is expected to close by the end of the first quarter of 2020", subject to the approval of the relevant regulatory authorities.

In order to allow the UK competition authority to make a final decision on the authorization or prohibition of the merger, the two companies must continue to operate in a completely separate manner for the time being: the assets held by one or other of the companies must be differentiated; technologies, hardware and software platforms of the two companies must remain unchanged. Each company is required to continue to operate and update its customers separately and to negotiate separately with its customers. No transfer is authorized between the two entities. A report demonstrating that…