EU antitrust regulators on Monday blocked Booking Holdings’ proposed 1.63-billion-euro ($1.7 billion) acquisition of Swedish peer ETraveli Group, saying the deal would have strengthened the former’s dominance in the market for hotel online travel agencies (OTA).
The European Commission, which acts as the competition watchdog in the 27-country European Union, said Booking’s remedies were not sufficient to address its concerns, confirming a Reuters story earlier this month.
