Grand Theft Antitrust: Lessons from the GAME/Gamestation transaction

In January 2008, the UK Competition Commission cleared the completed acquisition of Gamestation Limited (Gamestation) by GAME Group PLC (GAME), creating the largest retailer of video games in the UK through the combination of the only two national specialist retailers.1 The merger was approved unconditionally by the Commission, albeit with two of the panel members expressing a dissenting opinion. This Brief examines the source of the differences of opinion amongst the panel members and in so doing highlights two important considerations for the practical assessment of horizontal mergers, …