Proposed digital antitrust law likely to cover 'killer acquisitions'

Killer acquisitions are deals where a dominant company acquires a smaller innovative firm to prevent competition

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs may consider bringing “killer acquisitions” – deals where a dominant company acquires a smaller innovative firm to prevent competition – within the ambit of the proposed digital competition Bill, a senior official said. 

The suggestion was made during the public consultation process for the draft Bill, the official said.

The Bill has brought in ex-ante (preventive) regulations, which require digital companies to notify the Competition Commission of India (CCI) that they fulfil certain qualitative and quantitative criteria to qualify as Systemically Significant Digital Enterprises (SSDEs). 

SSDEs are large digital enterprises with a significant market presence,