The EU’s quick approval of the Amazon-MGM deal; and targeted advertising in Europe

MLex Market Insight

News

4.9 • 9 Ratings

🗓️ 1 April 2022

⏱️ 33 minutes

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Summary

The European Union’s unexpectedly swift review of the $8.5 billion Amazon-Metro Goldwyn Mayer deal was surprising and left merger experts speculating on what it could mean for other deals on the horizon. The European Commission’s reluctance to take a deep dive into a large transaction involving a digital platform with oodles of data at its disposal also challenges the assumption that the EU is a tough regulatory environment for US-based Big Tech. Also on today’s podcast: the EU’s Digital Services Act and what it means for targeted advertising. While a full ban of the practice is no longer on the negotiating table, a proposal to stop targeting minors with ads is raising questions about enforcement.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, it's great to see you again, James Panicki with you for Emlex's weekly podcast with the best and the latest from Emlex's team of reporters around the globe.
0:20.1	Thanks for tuning in today and we have a bumper issue for you.
0:24.3	In just over 10 minutes from now, we'll be speaking to Matthew Newman
0:27.9	about the EU's Digital Services Act and what it means for targeted advertising.
0:33.9	You no doubt already know what this is about,
0:36.3	advertising that seems to know you better than you know yourself.
0:40.0	Some people like it, others resent it. I tend to receive a lot of ads for slippers, so they've
0:45.6	certainly nailed my demographic, but how should it be regulated and should children be targeted?
0:52.1	Matthew will be joining us for all of the gossip on that massive
0:55.7	piece of legislation. First up, some merger action and the painless EU approval of the Amazon
1:02.8	MGM deal. And it's almost counterintuitive, isn't it? A massive deal involving on the one
1:08.8	hand a big tech company with access to data. On the other,
1:12.6	a Hollywood institution, MGM, which has access to more TV and movie content than you could
1:18.7	poke a stick at. Why would the EU just want to wave this one through? And how does this all play out
1:24.6	against the backdrop of the other big piece of EU legislation,
1:28.5	the Digital Markets Act?
1:30.3	Natalie McNeilis covers mergers and acquisitions from Brussels.
1:33.8	She has written a thoughtful piece of analysis about what we stand to learn from the review of this deal.
1:40.5	And she joins me now.
1:41.5	So, Natalie, why is this deal remarkable and why should we care about the
1:46.6	EU's swift approval process? Well, I think what's remarkable about it is just how easy it turned
1:54.9	out to be. I think we were all geared up for a big fight and we know we saw amazon okay it's one of these gatekeepers
	...

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