The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has issued a statement on Bottomline Technology’s purchase of the Experian Payments Gateway (EPG) business from Experian Limited. The purchased platform allows customers of Bottomline and EPG to make payments via the Bacs and Faster Payments Direct Corporate Access systems.
After completing its initial Phase 1 investigation, the CMA indicated it was concerned that the merger may reduce competition and the merged company may increase prices, reduce product availability, or reduce its investment in innovation.
Following further in-depth analysis carried out as part of a Phase 2 investigation the CMA now has now “” that the merger is not likely to raise competition concerns.
The CMA also said it looked in more detail at the possibility that, under alternative ownership, EPG would have become a more active competitor than it was before the merger but provisionally determined that this was not the case.
The CMA now seeks views on these findings by 10 March 2020 and will assess all evidence provided before making a final decision. The statutory deadline for the CMA’s final report is 5 April 2020.
