eBay allowed to acquire Depop from Etsy after all

On Wednesday, the British competition authority, the CMA, gave the green light to eBay’s planned acquisition of the fashion platform Depop. With this approval, a major hurdle to finalizing the deal has been cleared.

No further investigation

In February, eBay announced its intention to acquire Depop from competitor Etsy for approximately 1.2 billion U.S. dollars, equivalent to about 1.1 billion euros. The company hopes this will increase its appeal to younger shoppers and strengthen its position in the rapidly growing market for secondhand fashion, eBay said in the announcement.

Last month, the CMA launched a formal investigation into the impact of the acquisition on competition in the United Kingdom. Following the conclusion of this initial phase, the regulator decided not to refer the deal to an in-depth Phase 2 investigation. The deadline for completing Phase 1 was originally set for August 6.