The European Commission Starts Investigation into Acquisition of Kustomer by Facebook

The European Commission has launched an in-depth investigation into Facebook’s proposed acquisition of Kustomer, which helps businesses with digital customer service.

 

The EU daily board is “concerned” that the takeover will distort competition in the market for so-called CRM software, they say. These are systems that help manage customer data and support sales management.

The committee also fears that the acquisition may strengthen Facebook’s market position in so-called online display ads, such as banners, too much because the American internet company already has “significant amounts” of data with which it can personalize advertisements on its site…

Vice-President Margrethe Vestager (Competition): “It is essential to carefully review potentially problematic acquisitions by companies that are already dominant in specific markets. This is especially true in the digital sector, where Facebook has a leading position in both online display advertising and messaging channels such as WhatsApp, Messenger or Instagram.

The goal of our investigation is to make sure that this acquisition will not harm businesses or consumers and that the data Facebook gets will not falsify the competition.”