Facebook parent company Meta to divest Giphy following ruling by U.K. antitrust watchdog

Facebook parent company Meta Platforms Inc. on Tuesday said it has agreed to sell off Giphy, a social media GIF library it acquired for a reported $400 million in 2020, after the U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) upheld an earlier ruling for Meta to divest. In its ruling Tuesday, the CMA found that Meta failed on five of the six objections raised in an appeal by Meta. The CMA said that the acquisition should be reversed on the grounds it "could allow Meta to limit other social media platforms' access to GIFs, making those sites less attractive to users and less competitive." A Meta spokesperson told MarketWatch the company was "disappointed by the CMA's decision but accepts today's ruling as the final word on the matter." "We will work closely with the CMA on divesting Giphy. We are grateful to the Giphy team during this uncertain time for their business and wish them every success. We will continue to evaluate opportunities -- including through acquisition - to bring innovation and choice to more people in the UK and around the world," the Meta spokesperson added.

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