ANTITRUST | The EU General Court upheld the Commission’s prohibition of Booking’s acquisition of Etraveli

On 9 September 2026, the General Court of the European Union (the General Court) dismissed the action brought by Booking Holdings Inc. (Booking) against the European Commission’s decision prohibiting its proposed acquisition of an online travel agency (OTA). The General Court, rejecting Booking’s arguments challenging the EU Commission’s decision, confirmed that the EU Commission correctly evaluated: (a) the likelihood that the transaction would reinforce barriers to entry and expansion in the hotel OTA market; (b) the counterfactual scenario, including the likely evolution of Booking’s existing cooperation with Etraveli absent the transaction; (c) that the transaction would have strengthened Booking’s dominant position in the hotel OTA market, characterised by high barriers to expansion and entry, significant network effects, customer loyalty and inertia, thus creating a significant impediment to effective competition; and (d) that the competitive damage caused by the transaction could not be offset by the efficiency gains it would presumably determine.

Newsletter n. 121 – August/September 2026