Latest news with #FooYunChee
Irish Independent
10 hours ago
- Business
- Irish Independent
Meta may face daily fines over pay-or-consent model, EU warns
Foo Yun Chee ©Reuters Today at 05:13 Meta Platforms may face daily fines if limited changes that it has proposed to its pay-or-consent model fail to comply with an antitrust order issued in April, EU regulators warned on Friday. The warning from the European Commission, which acts as the EU competition enforcer, came two months after it slapped a 200-million-euro ($234 million) fine on the U.S. social media giant for breaching the Digital Markets Act (DMA) aiming at curbing the power of Big Tech.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Mars' $36 billion Kellanova deal may lead to price hikes, EU regulators warn
By Foo Yun Chee and Benoit Van Overstraeten BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Candy maker Mars' takeover of Pringles maker Kellanova could lead to price hikes because it will boost Mars' negotiating power with retailers, EU antitrust regulators warned on Wednesday as they opened a full-scale investigation into the $36 billion deal. The move could force Mars to divest assets to address the EU competition concerns or risk the deal being blocked. Mars announced the deal last August, among the biggest in the sector, that would bring brands from M&Ms, Snickers and Whiskas to Pringles, Pop-Tarts and Kellogg cereals under one roof. The EU competition enforcer said the deal would boost Mars' product portfolio, giving it increased leverage to extract higher prices during negotiations with retailers and in turn would lead to higher prices for consumers. It said both companies have a strong market position in several product markets in multiple EU countries due to their brands seen as must-have for consumers. The Commission also cited concerns from some European retailers about Mars' increased bargaining power and that they may be forced to accept higher prices, in order to avoid not being able to offer the products of Mars and Kellanova. "As inflation-hit food prices remain high across Europe, it is essential to ensure that this acquisition does not further drive up the cost of shopping baskets," EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera said in a statement. The Commission set an Oct. 31 deadline for its decision. Reuters exclusively reported on June 18 that the deal would trigger intensive EU regulatory scrutiny. European retailers have voiced worries about the power of large international suppliers of branded packaged goods and the high concentration levels in products such as breakfast cereals, carbonated drinks, confectionery and frozen desserts. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Mars' $36 billion Kellanova deal may lead to price hikes, EU regulators warn
By Foo Yun Chee and Benoit Van Overstraeten BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Candy maker Mars' takeover of Pringles maker Kellanova could lead to price hikes because it will boost Mars' negotiating power with retailers, EU antitrust regulators warned on Wednesday as they opened a full-scale investigation into the $36 billion deal. The move could force Mars to divest assets to address the EU competition concerns or risk the deal being blocked. Mars announced the deal last August, among the biggest in the sector, that would bring brands from M&Ms, Snickers and Whiskas to Pringles, Pop-Tarts and Kellogg cereals under one roof. The EU competition enforcer said the deal would boost Mars' product portfolio, giving it increased leverage to extract higher prices during negotiations with retailers and in turn would lead to higher prices for consumers. It said both companies have a strong market position in several product markets in multiple EU countries due to their brands seen as must-have for consumers. The Commission also cited concerns from some European retailers about Mars' increased bargaining power and that they may be forced to accept higher prices, in order to avoid not being able to offer the products of Mars and Kellanova. "As inflation-hit food prices remain high across Europe, it is essential to ensure that this acquisition does not further drive up the cost of shopping baskets," EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera said in a statement. The Commission set an Oct. 31 deadline for its decision. Reuters exclusively reported on June 18 that the deal would trigger intensive EU regulatory scrutiny. European retailers have voiced worries about the power of large international suppliers of branded packaged goods and the high concentration levels in products such as breakfast cereals, carbonated drinks, confectionery and frozen desserts.
Time of India
6 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Google Proposes Major Changes to Search Results to Avoid EU Antitrust Fine, ET HospitalityWorld
Alphabet's Google has proposed more changes to its search results to better showcase rivals in a bid to stave off a possible hefty EU antitrust fine, according to documents seen by Reuters. Google's latest proposal came three months after the European Commission charged the U.S. tech giant with favouring its own services such as Google Shopping, Google Hotels and Google Flights over rivals in breach of the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The landmark DMA sets out a list of dos and don'ts for Big Tech aimed at reining in their power and giving rivals more room to compete and consumers more choices. Under Google's new proposal a vertical search service (VSS) selected on objective and non-discriminatory criteria would get its own box at the top of the search page with the same format, information and features as Google's, the document said. Advt The box would contain three direct links picked by the VSS, to hotels, airlines, restaurants and VSS, which are specialised search engines within Google, would be ranked below but without a box unless users click on them."We do not agree with the (Commission's) preliminary findings' position but, on a without prejudice basis, we want to find a workable solution to resolve the present proceedings," the documents sent by both Google and the Commission to the rivals rivals will provide feedback at a July 8 meeting called by the Commission. A number of rivals, who did not want to be named ahead of the meeting, told Reuters that the changes still do not go far enough to ensure a level playing field.(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Susan Fenton Join the community of 2M+ industry professionals. Subscribe to Newsletter to get latest insights & analysis in your inbox. All about ETHospitalityWorld industry right on your smartphone! Download the ETHospitalityWorld App and get the Realtime updates and Save your favourite articles.
The Star
20-06-2025
- Business
- The Star
Google offers to tweak search results to promote rivals, stave off EU antitrust fine, documents show
FILE PHOTO: A logo is pictured at Google's European Engineering Center in Zurich, Switzerland July 19, 2018. Picture taken July 19, 2018. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Alphabet's Google has proposed more changes to its search results to better showcase rivals in a bid to stave off a possible hefty EU antitrust fine, according to documents seen by Reuters. Google's latest proposal came three months after the European Commission charged the U.S. tech giant with favouring its own services such as Google Shopping, Google Hotels and Google Flights over rivals in breach of the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The landmark DMA sets out a list of dos and don'ts for Big Tech aimed at reining in their power and giving rivals more room to compete and consumers more choices. Under Google's new proposal a vertical search service (VSS) selected on objective and non-discriminatory criteria would get its own box at the top of the search page with the same format, information and features as Google's, the document said. The box would contain three direct links picked by the VSS, to hotels, airlines, restaurants and transport. Other VSS, which are specialised search engines within Google, would be ranked below but without a box unless users click on them. "We do not agree with the (Commission's) preliminary findings' position but, on a without prejudice basis, we want to find a workable solution to resolve the present proceedings," the documents sent by both Google and the Commission to the rivals said. The rivals will provide feedback at a July 8 meeting called by the Commission. A number of rivals, who did not want to be named ahead of the meeting, told Reuters that the changes still do not go far enough to ensure a level playing field. (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Susan Fenton)
