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UK: PayPal fined over iZettle buy

By  |  September 25, 2019

According to a report from Reuters, the UK competition regulator has fined US payments company PayPal for breaching rules concerning its US$2.2 billion acquisition of Swedish start-up iZettle. 

PayPal completed its tie-up with iZettle in September 2018, bringing together the two largest suppliers of mobile point-of-sale devices in the UK and triggering an investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). 

That month, the CMA issued an enforcement order that halted integration of the businesses in the UK while the watchdog’s probe continued. The CMA warned that the deal could lead to a “substantial lessening of competition in any market or markets in the United Kingdom” and launched a formal merger inquiry one month later. 

On Tuesday, September 24, the regulator announced PayPal had flouted its rules by cross-selling to customers based in the UK, resulting in a £250,000 (US$308,984) fine.

Full Content: Financial Times

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