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ARTICLE · 28 SEPTEMBER 2026

A Precedent For The Platform Age: The Booking/eTraveli Judgment And Its Implications For Digital M&A

Slaughter and May
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The European General Court has upheld the Commission's prohibition of Booking's acquisition of eTraveli Group, endorsing a novel 'ecosystem' theory of harm that allows intervention even where market share increases are minimal. This landmark ruling significantly expands the Commission's ability to challenge acquisitions by dominant firms in digital markets, establishing that transactions which merely perpetuate existing low levels of competition can constitute significant impediments to effective

United KingdomAntitrust/Competition Law
Alex Bulfin
Alex Bulfin
Kerry O'Connell
Kerry O'Connell
Jacopo Pelucchi
Jacopo Pelucchi

Overview

On 9 September 2026, the General Court delivered its judgment in Case T-1139/23, Booking Holdings v Commission, dismissing Booking's challenge to the European Commission's September 2023 decision prohibiting its proposed acquisition of eTraveli Group, a European-based flight online travel agency (OTA). The Court supported the Commission’s key findings, including an endorsement of its then-novel “ecosystem” theory of harm and its interpretation of what constitutes a “significant impediment to effective competition” (or SIEC), the legal test for assessing whether mergers are harmful to competition. The judgment also confirmed the circumstances in which the Commission is able to depart from its own guidelines.

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