3 ms·
I imagine there might be serious anti-trust concerns with such an acquisition.
by shoyer 10y ago
I imagine there might be serious anti-trust concerns with such an acquisition.
- jacquesm 10y agoWhy? Neither of those companies has anything even close to a monopoly.
- Retric 10y agoCombined they likely have a lot of local monopolies even if they don't have a national or global one.
- jacquesm 10y agoYou mean places where there are no other taxi services, but where Uber and Lyft both have drivers?
- rahkiin 10y agoIt seems to me that neither the FCC nor the FTC consider 'local monopolies' as actual monopolies. See: ISPs.
- adventured 10y agoLocal monopolies are definitely not uncommon in the US. On a sheer numbers basis, it's very rare for small local monopolies to be pursued on anti-trust grounds, however the majority of US anti-trust cases are made up cases that don't resemble the Microsoft / AT&T / IBM type scenarios. They will occasionally go after small local monopolies, the abuse has to be so great it gets their attention however. You can browse all anti-trust cases here: https://www.justice.gov/atr/antitrust-case-filings?page=1 https://www.justice.gov/atr/antitrust-case-filings?page=1 Here's a typical example, that is a million miles away from something like the Microsoft case: https://www.justice.gov/atr/case/us-v-michael-p-barbour https://www.justice.gov/atr/case/us-v-michael-p-barbour
- cortesoft 10y agoYou don't have to be a monopoly to be in violation of anti-trust laws. The Clayton Act says that they can block any merger or acquisition that would 'substantially lessen competition'. Even though they wouldn't be a monopoly, it wouldn't be hard to argue that merging Uber and Lyft would substantially lessen competition. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clayton_Antitrust_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clayton_Antitrust_Act
- jacquesm 10y agoGood point, that's something that might happen, especially because both are fairly open about using the money raised from investors to subsidize the rides. Size-wise, especially in some locations Uber and Lyft now dwarf the regular taxi services. So you're probably right that this would at least be reviewed and likely flagged down, assuming that such local issues would be enough to raise that flag.