UK court lifts Meta-Giphy deal block

Britain's competition regulator said on Monday it would conduct a further review after a court overturned its initial decision to block Facebook (NASDAQ:META) owner Meta's acquisition of Giphy.

The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) last year ordered Meta to sell Giphy, the animated image platform it acquired for $400 million, amid concerns over the loss of a potential advertising competitor and its potential impact on social media rivals. Last month, the US tech giant partially won its appeal against the regulator, with the UK's Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) saying the CMA had "failed to consult properly" and had "wrongly omitted parts of its decision". The CAT said it overturned the regulator's decision and sent the matter back for a new decision. In response, the CMA said it endorsed the court's approach to scrutinizing mergers that could harm innovation but agreed to reconsider its decision. "We will begin our review shortly," it said.