By Katey Pigden 29th January 2021 1:47 pm [IMG]The competition...

By Katey Pigden 29^th January 2021 1:47 pm
The competition watchdog’s decision to order FNZ to sell off fellow platform technology provider GBST has been quashed by the Competition Appeal Tribunal.
The case has been referred back to the Competition and Markets Authority so it can reconsider its view and “make a new decision”.
In December last year, FNZ submitted a notice of application to the CAT to challenge the watchdog’s ruling.
Later that month the CMA admitted it had “identified certain potential errors” in its market share calculations and asked the tribunal for the decision to be quashed so it could relook at the matter.
FNZ appeals merger block as CMA admits ‘errors’
After carrying out an in-depth investigation into the platform tech deal, the CMA deemed FNZ’s purchase of GBST and the relative market share it would result in was likely to lead to a “significant lessening of competition” in the supply of “retail platform solutions” in the UK.
It concluded that a “full divestiture” of GBST would be an “effective and proportionate remedy” to address the concerns around a smaller competitive playing field.