According to the EU Press Room, “The European Commission has cleared under the EU Merger Regulation Travelport’s proposed acquisition of sole control of Worldspan. Both companies provide electronic travel distribution services through a Global Distribution System (GDS). The Commission was initially concerned that the proposed transaction would give rise to competition concerns on the market for the provision of GDS services to travel service providers (airlines, car rental companies, hotels, etc) in the European Economic Area (EEA) and to travel agents in several Member States (Belgium, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands and the UK), and therefore opened a detailed inquiry (see IP/07/607). However, the in-depth investigation has shown that the acquisition is unlikely to result in unilateral price increases by the merged firm. It also found that the reduction of the number of GDSs operating in the EEA from four to three would be unlikely to result in coordinated behaviour between the remaining GDSs. The Commission has therefore concluded that the proposed transaction would not significantly impede effective competition within the EEA or a significant part of it.”This Press Release is available in full text.
