FTC Plans to Examine Past Acquisitions by Big Tech Companies -- Update

By John D. McKinnon 

WASHINGTON -- The Federal Trade Commission ordered five big tech companies to provide detailed information about their previous acquisitions of small companies, expanding the agency's investigation into possible antitrust concerns in digital markets.

The FTC ordered the companies -- Amazon.com Inc., Apple Inc., Facebook Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Google owner Alphabet Inc. -- to turn over information and documents relating to the scope, structure and purpose of their takeovers of smaller companies between 2010 and 2019.

The FTC orders don't have a specific enforcement purpose, but they will help the agency "deepen its understanding of large technology firms' acquisition activity," the agency said, including "whether large tech companies are making potentially anticompetitive acquisitions of nascent or potential competitors" that are too small to require legal review by federal authorities.

The five companies named by the FTC didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

(More to come)

Write to John D. McKinnon at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 11, 2020 12:43 ET (17:43 GMT)

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