Meta Hit With New Fine as Battle for Control of Giphy Continues

(Bloomberg) -- Meta Inc. was fined 1.5 million pounds ($2 million) from the U.K.'s competition regulator for breaching an enforcement order during its Giphy merger probe, the latest twist in an increasingly messy fight for control of the GIF search engine.

The Facebook parent failed to inform the Competition and Markets Authority that three “key” U.S. employees had left the company, a breach of its merger investigation rules, the regulator said on Friday.

“Meta failed to alert us in advance to important changes in their staff, despite knowing they were legally required to do so,” said Joel Bamford, senior director of mergers at the CMA. “This is not the first time this has happened.”

The regulator has taken a tough line against Meta on the deal, and already fined the tech giant 50.5 million pounds for breaching its rules last year. Meta is appealing the CMA's decision ordering the social network to unwind its $315 million purchase of Giphy, and a hearing is set for April 25 at the U.K.'s Competition Appeal Tribunal.

Read: GIFs Were the Last Straw: Meta Gets First Order to Unwind Deal

“We are disappointed by the CMA's decision to fine us,” a Meta spokesperson said, saying the company intended to pay the fine. “It is problematic that the CMA can take decisions that could directly impact the rights of our U.S. employees protected under U.S. law.”

Facebook has a history of breaching merger rules across Europe. It paid a 110 million-euro ($126 million) fine for giving incorrect information to European Union investigators probing its takeover of WhatsApp. Austria also fined the company last year for failing to request its approval for the Giphy deal.