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Japan’s New Antitrust Head Interested In Probing Any Merger Involving Fitbit

By  |  October 22, 2020

Japan’s antitrust watchdog can open a probe into any merger or business tie-up involving fitness tracker maker Fitbit if the size of such deals is big enough, said Kazuyuki Furuya, the new chairman of the Fair Trade Commission (JFTC), according to Nasdaq.

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    EU antitrust regulators in August launched an investigation into a US$2.1 billion deal by Alphabet unit Google’s bid to buy Fitbit, a move aimed at taking on Apple and Samsung in the wearable technology market. 

    “If the size of any merger or business tie-up is big, we can launch an anti-monopoly investigation into the buyer’s process of acquiring a start-up (like Fitbit),” Furuya told Nasdaq in an interview.

    “We’re closely watching developments including in Europe.”

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