Europe's competition enforcer on Friday opened an in-depth investigation of Korean Air's planned $1.6 billion purchase of rival carrier Asiana Airlines over concerns about its effect on passenger and cargo service between the European Union and South Korea.
The abrupt announcement by the Federal Trade Commission's only Republican member that she plans to depart means the agency could soon be left without a countervailing voice at a time when the commission's leadership is pushing to reshape antitrust enforcement through several major initiatives.
Europe's competition enforcer on Wednesday cleared Swiss chemical and materials supplier Sika's planned $5.7 billion purchase of MBCC Group, conditioned on the sale of a global business unit that had also raised concerns in the United Kingdom.
The U.S. Department of Justice's Jan. 24 suit seeking to break up Google's advertising business adds to a mountain of antitrust litigation already targeting the tech giant. In addition to federal enforcement, Google is also facing cases from dozens of state-level enforcers, as well as from developers, advertisers and consumers, all accusing it of monopolizing various digital markets.
The Federal Trade Commission has voted not to recuse Chair Lina Khan from participating in the agency's in-house case challenging Facebook parent Meta Platforms' planned purchase of a virtual reality app developer while the commission plots a path forward with its federal case.