KPPU’s Merger Analysts and Investigators Gathered to Increase their Skill in Handling Cases on High Technology Industries.

Yogyakarta, 21 September 2018 – High technology industries of today present legal and economic challenges that go far beyond the issues raised in the past, including challenges of competition law enforcement in this industry. High technology industries are not all alike and they may have special competitive characteristic.

In order to face the challenges emerge from this specific sector, KPPU with the support of United States Fair Trade Commission (US FTC) held a two and half days workshop on “Merger Analysis in High Technology Industries” in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, from 19 – 21 September 2018. This workshop was attended by 30 merger analysts and investigators from KPPU’s Head Office and Representative Offices.

During the workshop, Mr. Nicholas Franczyk and Ms. Peggy Femenella Bayer of the USFTC brought sessions on; (i) introduction to merger analysis in high-tech & new economy industries, (ii) planning and conducting merger investigations in high-tech & new economy industries, (iii) beyond price competition: incorporating innovation and other non-price effects into merger review, (iv) market definition in high-tech industries, (v) entry, efficiencies and other defenses, (vi) merger remedies in high technology industries, (vii) joint ventures and other competition collaborations in new economy markets, and (viii) introduction to exclusionary conduct in new economy markets.

Participants also actively engaged in several case study sessions, and they applied lessons learned into actual USFTC cases where one of them involving a merger of two providers of dealer management systems software.