The U.S. Justice Department's antitrust lawsuit against Google's search engine dominance is coming closer to a resolution. The trial has wrapped up and Judge Amit Mehta will issue his opinion later this year. The lawsuit hinges on whether Google's payments to Apple to become the default search engine violated antitrust law.
Tag: market power
What Home Depot’s $18 Billion Deal Says About Its Strategy (Micro News for March 30, 2024 – April 5, 2024)
Big box category killer Home Depot announced it would spend $18.3 billion to acquire SRS Distribution. SRS is a building material distributor that sells primarily to professional roofers, pool contractors, and landscapers. This purchase puts Home Depot squarely in the professional market with SRS having 760 warehouses and over 4,000 delivery trucks. Home Depot stated the firm would operate independently.
JetBlue and Spirit Appeal Court Decision Blocking Their Merger (Micro News for January 20, 2024 – January 26, 2024)
A federal court ruled that the proposed merger between JetBlue Airways and Spirit Airlines would inhibit competition. However, the two airlines announced their intention to appeal the ruling stating that combining the two airlines would allow them to lower costs and therefore reduce airfares. The two airlines also indicated that the merger would enhance "our ability to compete with the dominant U.S. carriers."
Federal Appeals Court Tosses State Antitrust Suit Seeking to Break Up Meta (Micro News for April 29, 2023 – May 5, 2023)
A U.S. Court of Appeals dismissed the antitrust case against Meta (Facebook) filed by several states in 2020. The suit alleged that Meta's acquisition of WhatsApp and Instagram harmed competition in the industry. The three-member panel of judges upheld a lower court's decision and announced the states did not make their case of Meta's "policies harming competition."
Pearson Economic News 