In a recent article for CPI Antitrust Chronicle, Ethel Fonseca
Ethel FonsecaPartner, Helder Vasconcelos
Helder VasconcelosPartner and George Tucker
George TuckerPrincipal set out a framework and practical guidance for assessing ecosystem theories of harm in merger control.
Recent merger investigations relating to digital ecosystems have raised a number of novel, yet fundamentally similar, economic issues. Yet these cases have at times been viewed as horizontal, and at other times as non-horizontal, notwithstanding the close similarities in the economic issues they raise.
In the article, they explain that the underlying theory of harm in these cases is fundamentally different from the unilateral effects theory of harm in typical horizontal merger analysis, in several important respects.
Against this backdrop, the article sets out a framework to ensure that analytical rigour is maintained in the assessment of ecosystem theories of harm, breaking the analysis down into its logical steps. It then compares recent cases against this framework.
It concludes with practical recommendations for future assessments of ecosystem mergers.
Article published in CPI Antitrust Chronicle, April 2026.
Read the full article here.
