EU to reconsider Sony-BMG music merger after court defeat

0 Comments | AFP, July, 2006

BRUSSELS (AFP) — The European Union's second-highest court has thrown out a European Commission approval of the mega music merger that created Sony BMG, forcing EU competition regulators to reconsider the deal.

The EU's Court of First Instance said that EU regulators' examination of the deal for competition risks had been sloppy and had failed to show that the deal would not create a music giant that dominated the market.

In a blow to the commission's authority, the decision means that EU regulators will have to reopen the case and take a harder look at potential risks to competition.

"The commission will analyze the ruling very carefully and decide after thorough consideration which consequences to draw," said its spokesman for competition issues, Jonathan...