| Synopsis: |
On 02 November 2009, the Office of Fair Trading referred the anticipated acquisition by Brightsolid Group Limited (Brightsolid) of Friends Reunited Holdings Limited (Friends) to the Competition Commission for investigation and report. Brightsolid is a wholly-owned subsidiary of DC Thomson & Co Ltd. Its subsidiary, Find My Past Limited, operates as a leader of projects to digitize, transcribe and index historical records, and as an online retailer of data relevant to family history. Friends is a wholly-owned subsidiary of ITV plc (ITV). Its subsidiary, Genes Reunited, operates a social networking family history website, which also provides its users with access to a number of historical records. There is no evidence to suggest that either company would exit from the market in the absence of the merger. Both companies operate as providers of online family history data and other services and are two of the three largest suppliers of online genealogy services in the UK. Key content in this title include: the industry and the companies; the proposed acquisition; rationale for the acquisition; market definition; jurisdiction; counterfactual; and, competitive effects of the acquisition. |