US judge allows FTC to temporarily block IQVIA acquisition of DeepIntent (updated)

Propel Media

30/12/2023 02:31

(Adds FTC did not immediately respond to comment in paragraph
10)
    By GursimranKaur Mehar and Mrinmay Dey
       Dec 29 (Reuters) - A U.S. court on Friday upheld a
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) order to block IQVIA’s  IQV.N 
acquisition of DeepIntent, a healthcare advertising firm, as it
may harm competition.
    DeepIntent, owned by Propel Media, a digital advertising
company, entered into an agreement with U.S. headquartered
healthcare data and analytics firm IQVIA in 2022 with the intent
to facilitate seamless communication between patients and
healthcare providers.
    Earlier this year, the FTC intervened to block IQVIA and
DeepIntent's proposed merger so as to prevent increased
concentration in health care programmatic advertising. 
    The merger would harm competition and would lead to
increased prices for consumers, and hurt patients, the FTC had
said.
    DeepIntent's chief executive officer previously in an open
letter said that the company would walk away from the deal and
would remain an independent company had the regulator won the
block. The financial terms of the deal are not known.
    Speaking in favor of the FTC, District Judge Edgar Ramos
granted the U.S. antitrust department a preliminary injunction
to block the deal.
    In the ruling, Ramos said, "The FTC has shown that there is
a reasonable probability that the proposed acquisition will
substantially impair competition in the relevant market and that
the equities weigh in favor of injunctive relief."
    IQVIA said in an emailed statement to Reuters it was
disappointed by the court’s decision and was reviewing the
decision and evaluating its options.
    "We maintain that the FTC’s arguments in this case are
inconsistent with the reality of the marketplace and unsupported
by the law," IQVIA said.
    DeepIntent and the FTC did not immediately respond to a
Reuters request for comment.    

 (Reporting by Gursimran Kaur and Mrinmay Dey in Bengaluru;
Editing by Kim Coghill and Sonali Paul)
 ((GursimranKaur.Mehar@thomsonreuters.com;))