OSLO (Reuters) – The British competition authority (CMA) has expressed concerns about the planned acquisition by Norway’s Adevinta of eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY)’s classified ads business, Adevinta said on Tuesday.
The deal, worth $9.2 billion and announced in July, would create the world’s largest classifieds group if it were to go ahead.
Britain, where Adevinta and Ebay compete against other players such as Gumtree, accounted for less than 10% of the consolidated revenues of Ebay’s classified business, and 1% of Adevinta’s consolidated revenues, Adevinta said.
Adevinta and eBay will together propose legally binding solutions to resolve the regulator’s concerns before the deadline of Feb. 23, Adevinta said.
The CMA would then have five working days to consider whether to accept their proposals, or to refer the deal to an in-depth investigation, the firm said.
Adevinta said it would provide a further update in early March following the CMA’s decision.
