Nvidia-ARM takeover raises serious antitrust concerns, finds UK's CMA – TechCrunch

The UK's competition watchdog has raised serious concerns about Nvidia's proposed takeover of chip designer, ARM. Its assessment was published today by the government which will now need to decide whether to ask the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to carry out an in-depth probe into the proposed acquisition. In the executive summary of the CMA's report for the government the watchdog sets out concerns that if the deal were to go ahead the merged business would have the ability and incentive to harm the competitiveness of Nvidia's rivals by restricting access to ARM's IP which is used by companies that produce semiconductor chips and related products, in competition with Nvidia. The CMA is worried that the loss of competition could stifle innovation across a number of markets -- including data centres, gaming, the'internet of things', and self-driving cars, with the resulting risk of more expensive or lower quality products for businesses and consumers. A behavioral remedy offered by Nvidia was rejected by the CMA -- which has recommended moving to an in-depth'Phase 2' investigation of the proposed merger on competition grounds.