Today in Monopoly – Wednesday, February 20th
Here are some stories we had our eye on today:
UK regulator thwarts Sainsbury’s £7.3bn deal to acquire Asda
Financial Times, Jonathan Eley, Barney Thompson and Arash Massoudi
J Sainsbury’s planned £7.3bn takeover of rival Asda was on the brink of collapse on Wednesday after the UK competition regulator expressed “extensive concerns” over whether there was any way the deal could proceed without undermining supermarket competition in Britain. The Competition and Markets Authority said the proposed acquisition could result in consumers facing “higher prices, reduced quality and choice, and a poorer overall shopping experience across the UK”, and expressed scepticism that selling stores alone could fix those problems … Interested parties have until March 13 to respond to the regulator’s findings, with a final report to be issued by April 30.
Once hailed as unhackable, blockchains are now getting hacked
MIT Technology Review, Mike Orcutt
More and more security holes are appearing in cryptocurrency and smart contract platforms, and some are fundamental to the way they were built.
Lawmakers want to question Facebook about the privacy of groups
The Verge, Colin Lecher
House committee asked for a briefing
Russian Hackers Targeted European Research Groups, Microsoft Says
New York Times, Karen Weise
A group of hackers associated with Russian intelligence targeted civil society groups across Europe ahead of May elections there, Microsoft said on Tuesday.
Pepsi Buys Muscle Milk in New CEO's First Move
Bloomberg, Jonathan Roeder
PepsiCo Inc.’s new Chief Executive Officer Ramon Laguarta has made his first acquisition, purchasing the maker of sports and wellness products Muscle Milk from Hormel Foods Corp. for an undisclosed amount.
OPINION
Amazon deserves more than rejection from New York. It should be punished
The Guardian, Matt Stoller
Simply saying ‘no’ to its headquarters isn’t enough – Amazon should be investigated for abusing monopoly power
New York Times – Letter to the Editor
Ruth Messinger, a former Manhattan borough president, says democracy has been ill served.
New York City Already Has Lots of Jobs, Thank You
Bloomberg, Justin Fox
How the city’s spectacular 21st-century jobs boom may have shaped its reaction to Amazon.