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German Cartel Office Clears Facebook-Kustomer Deal

By  |  February 13, 2022

Meta Platforms has won approval from the German competition authority to buy customer relationship management software supplier Kustomer, reported Bloomberg. 

The Bundeskartellamt’s announcement today averts a clash with the European Commission. The EU merger regulator cleared the deal at the end of January.

Related: EU Conditionally Clears Facebook Kustomer Deal

Kustomer, which sells CRM software to businesses so they can communicate with consumers by phone, email, text messages, WhatsApp, Instagram, and other channels, would help Facebook scale up its instant messaging app WhatsApp, which has seen usage soar during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A buying spree of startups by big companies has triggered concerns on both sides of the Atlantic, with regulators worried about so-called killer acquisitions aimed at shutting down potential rivals before they are big enough to be a threat.

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