The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is concerned that the acquisition could lead to increases in fees for customers, including fans, who resell or buy secondary tickets to live events. The CMA is mindful of the significant impact that the coronavirus pandemic is currently having on the live events industry. CMA requires viagogo to sell StubHubâs international business. CMA Takes Issue With StubHub/Viagogo Merger In UK 6:47 AM, Thursday, 10/22/2020 By: Gideon Gottfried Tweet. 0. Under Viagogoâs plans, submitted to the CMA on 5 November, the buyer of StubHubâs operations outside North America would receive customer and transaction data in the UK and beyond. StubHub fulfils a very similar role and the two are the main providers in the UK, with no significant competitors, so merging them could reduce competition. Share on Facebook. The CMA said the merger could have resulted in higher fees for UK ⦠ó. It could leave customers with bigger bills or worse service, the CMA said, as it decided to only allow the two to merge if StubHubâs international business is independently owned. To address this concern, the CMA is requiring Viagogo to sell StubHubâs business outside of North America. Ciaran Willis. CMA requires viagogo to sell StubHubâs international business The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has concluded that the merger between viagogo and Stubhub will lead to a substantial reduction in competition in the secondary ticketing market in the UK. viagogo purchased StubHub in February 2020 and the CMA started its in-depth âPhase 2â investigation in June after finding concerns during an initial probe. However, the evidence is that viagogo and StubHub would remain important competitors for the foreseeable future without the merger. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has found that the proposed merger between Viagogo and StubHub will lead to a substantial reduction in competition in the secondary ticketing market in the UK. A Viagogo spokesperson said: âThe CMA always considers a full range of remedy options for the UK market, and in the case of the Viagogo-StubHub merger, this is no different. Late last year, the CMA launched an investigation into the merger, looking at whether or not the deal will lead to âa substantial lessening of competitionâ in ticket selling. Viagogo bought its ticketing rival in February for US$4.2bn, but had already been warned that the CMA saw them that as close rivals in an already very concentrated market with no significant additional competitors. The two businesses, Viagogo and StubHub, will remain separate globally in line with the recent order from the CMA until their examination into the deal is complete.â A StubHub spokesperson says, âThe CMA order is consistent with the approach we have taken throughout this process and StubHub will continue to cooperate with the CMA. Viagogo has been ordered to sell all of Stubhubâs businesses outside of North America including Britain by the UKâs competition authority. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has ruled against the proposed merger of two secondary ticketing sites because it would reduce competition in the UK. StubHub and Viagogo merger blocked by UK regulators. Viagogo and StubHub merger 'may lead to more expensive concert tickets', regulator warns. Sam Shemtob of the Face-value European Alliance For Ticketing also commended the CMA on its decision, and FanFairâs work campaigning for the Viagogo/StubHub merger ⦠Britainâs Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is taking a closer look into how the possible $4 billion merger of StubHub and Viagogo will affect competition, the Financial Times (FT) reported. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has concluded that the merger between viagogo and Stubhub will lead to a substantial reduction ⦠The CMA has concluded that the merger will lead to a substantial reduction in competition in the secondary ticketing market in the UK, with customers who use secondary ticketing platforms potentially facing higher fees or poorer service in future. Ticket resale company Viagogo completed the $4bn buyout of US market leader StubHub ⦠Viagogo and StubHub are the UK's two largest secondary ticketing ⦠ò. ñ. This will mean that the StubHub [â¦] As part of its Phase 2 inquiry, the CMA has provisionally concluded that viagogoâs purchase of StubHub is likely to result in a substantial lessening of competition in the online secondary ticketing market. CMA takes Viagogo/StubHub to Phase II. Tweet on Twitter. The Parties submit that full divestiture cannot be assumed to be an effective remedy and would, in any event, be disproportionate. Before the CMA stepped in, the merger would have created an online ticket resale behemoth that served over 70 countries. The UKâs Competition and Markets Authority has launched an in-depth review into a merger between the countryâs two biggest ticketing resale companies. Viagogo bought its main rival from eBay for $4.05 billion in December 2019. If the CMA determines that there will be a substantial lessening of competition within any market or markets in the United Kingdom from the sale of StubHub to viagogo then they could block the merger. The CMA decided the merger, which has been on hold, would lead to higher fees and poorer service for its UK customers. The UKâs competition watchdog has provisionally blocked the $4.05bn merger of Viagogo and StubHub, citing concerns over âsubstantial lesseningâ of competition. As the Merger was effected through an acquisition by viagogo of StubHub, the Parties address the CMAâs points by reference to a requirement to divest fully the acquired business, namely StubHub. [â¦] THE COMPETITION and Markets Authority (CMA) has ordered controversial resale website Viagogo and eBay-owned StubHub to halt their merger while it continues its preliminary inquiry.. The competition watchdog said consumers could see a rise in fees collected by the enlarged entity if the merger went ahead. To read more Subscribe to Global Competition Review. CONTROVERSIAL RESALE website Viagogo has completed its £3.9 billion ($4.05bn) acquisition of StubHub from eBay, announced in December.. 53. The CMA decision will mean that StubHub's international business - which includes the UK - will be independently owned and run by a separate company, with no input from Viagogo, the authority added. The buyer would be allowed to use the StubHub UK brand for three years, followed by a year-long âblackoutâ where neither the buyer nor Viagogo could use the StubHub brand in Britain. However, StubHub and viagogo are saying the CMA investigation is a routine expected step in the acquisition process and thereâs nothing to worry about: âThe requirement to hold separate the two businesses of Viagogo and StubHub is an expected part of the merger process, and we fully acknowledge the importance of the CMAâs examination into the deal.â Viagogo has been instructed to sell StubHub's business outside of North America so that its operations in the UK are run without Viagogo's involvement. However, the Initial Enforcement Order (IEC) issued by the Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) still prevents the companies from integrating the websites while it continues its preliminary investigation (see LIVE UK issue 241). Share. Following an in-depth investigation, the CMA has provisionally found that the completed merger of viagogo and StubHub will reduce competition The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) found that viagogo and StubHub are close competitors in an already very concentrated market with no significant additional competitors In an earlier action that year, the CMA started court proceedings against Viagogo for failure to comply with consumer protection laws, but dropped them when the company complied at the last minute. viagogo has acquired StubHub from eBay Selling point: $4.05 billion. StubHub also said that it would continue to work with the CMA. A $4bn (£3.22bn) takeover that has been dubbed the worst deal in history just got that little bit worse.. 26 June 2020. The CMA warned Viagogo it had been considering a probe, however, the company moved forward with the payment, which was partially funded by loans from the Walkton dynasty.