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Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has been ordered to sell Giphy by the regulators in the United Kingdom. It was revealed this week that the company would comply with the order.
Meta’s decision is also seen as a defeat on its part because this means it will give up its $400 million Giphy deal that was blocked by the UK regulators. Moreover, the officials previously said that it would force Meta to undo its acquisition of the online database and search engine that allows users to search for and share short looping videos with no sound that resemble animated GIF files, and apparently, the regulators were able to carry out exactly what it intended to do.
As per CNN Business, this is the first time the regulators have succeeded in breaking something that is part of the American tech firm since its economic dominance started drawing antitrust scrutiny from governments around the world.
This week’s announcement of the UK Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) final decision on the matter with Meta officially ended the battle over the deal’s likely effect on competitors’ access to GIFs. Meta was also being stopped for its acquisition of Giphy, as this may also affect the entire digital advertising market.
Now that it is clear Mark Zuckerberg’s company is set to unload Giphy, it has yet to name the possible buyers. At this time, it is believed that some firms will step up to reveal their intent for an acquisition deal. In any case, Meta’s spokesperson said that the company was disappointed by CMA’s decision, but it will accept the ruling because it is the final decision of the authorities.
“We will work closely with the CMA on divesting GIPHY. We are grateful to the GIPHY team during this uncertain time for their business and wish them every success,” the company’s spokesman told CNBC. “We will continue to evaluate opportunities - including through acquisition - to bring innovation and choice to more people in the UK and around the world.”
Finally, despite its defeat, Meta said it would continue to explore other acquisition opportunities.
