Facebook calls that the regulator’s position is “particularly unreasonable and disproportionate.” According to the company, the CMA should “consider very carefully” a measure such as forcing a part to be sold.

Facebook emphasizes that Giphy does not operate in the UK, although the service is available there. The American company also wonders whether the British regulator can demand the divestment of a company.

$ 400 million

Facebook has been at odds with the CMA for more than a year over its acquisition of Giphy last year for $ 400 million (€ 339 million). Before that, Facebook had not sought permission from regulators in the UK or elsewhere.

Giphy allows users to search gif animations to animate chats or social media posts. The service has more than 7 million registered users and reaches several hundred million people around the world with the gifs every month.

In March, the CMA rejected a proposal from Facebook that the Giphy library would remain available to the public for five years on the same terms as before the acquisition.

More controversial Facebook acquisitions

Several Facebook acquisitions are under scrutiny from regulators, because the tech giant would have faced competition. For example, investigations are still ongoing on Facebook’s acquisitions of WhatsApp (in 2014 for $ 19 billion) and Instagram (in 2012 for $ 1 billion). The US regulator FTC recently petitioned the federal court to reverse the WhatsApp and Instagram acquisitions.

The Netherlands, Germany and France recently said that they believe the European Union should be able to block the acquisition of a startup by large groups like Google or Facebook.