Digital Platform Ecosystems and Conglomerate Mergers: A Review of the Brazilian Experience

Abstract

This article highlights some of the key challenges for the Brazilian merger control regime in dealing with mergers involving digital platform ecosystems (DPEs). After a quick introduction to DPEs, we illustrate how their market power may be strengthened through conglomerate mergers, and yet these concerns remain largely unaddressed in the current landscape for merger control in Brazil. The article is divided in four sections. First, we introduce the reader to the framework for merger control in Brazil. Second, we identify the possible theories of harm related to conglomerate merger, and elaborate on the way in which their application may be affected by the context of DPEs. Third, we conduct a review of previous mergers involving DPEs in Brazil, aiming to identify the theories of harm employed (and those that could have been explored) in each case. Fourth and finally, we summarize and results and suggest adaptation to merger control in Brazil, advancing proposals for a more consistent and predictable analysis. Digital Platforms, Digital Ecosystems, Merger Control, Conglomerate Mergers, Competition Law, Antitrust, Brazil