(Bloomberg) -- The Dutch competition watchdog is seeking beefed-up powers to probe more small deals that risk crushing competition in fledgling tech markets after the European Union’s attempts to vet them was shot down by the bloc’s top court.
The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets, or ACM, said Thursday that the government should give it authority to examine acquisitions that don’t meet current sales thresholds but risk negative consequences for consumers and companies in the country.
“The possibility to investigate the consequences of this type of acquisition and to prevent market power is currently lacking,” Martijn Snoep, chairman of the watchdog said in a statement.
The move is a direct consequence of a recent ruling from the EU’s Court of Justice in a case involving Illumina Inc.’s blocked $7 billion takeover of cancer-detection provider Grail Inc. Judges said a new system set up by the Brussels-based European Commission illegally encouraged national regulators to ask it to probe deals that would normally fall below the sales thresholds for EU investigations.
Earlier this week, Microsoft Corp.’s investment into Inflection AI avoided scrutiny from the commission after the court loss hamstrung its power to go after deals that fell under the radar.
Seven regulators, including the Dutch agency, had initially asked the commission to probe the deal, before withdrawing their requests in light of the Illumina case.
--With assistance from Samuel Stolton.
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