First Rental Cars, Now Hotels Consolidate
It’s been awhile since I studied Anti-Trust in law school, but it sure looks to me like a couple consumer-oriented industries are getting awfully concentrated.
And I’m not just talking about airlines and cable companies.
The latest example of “the urge to merge”: Marriott Hotels gobbling up competitor Starwood for over $12 billion.
Competing with AirBnB
Is the acquisition anti-competitive?
Put it this way: at least for consumers, I certainly doubt that it’s pro-competitive (likely casualty #1: Starwoods’ especially cushy points program for frequent guests).
But whether or not the combination rises to the level of legally anti-competitive (and worthy of antitrust scrutiny) depends on how — and where — you define the hospitality market.
Dawn of the “Mega-Brand”
The two key criteria: 1) geographic scope (U.S. or global market); and 2) including AirBnb or not.
I suppose criteria #3 is, “who’s doing the defining?”
So, to pick just one example from another field, Google’s size and market power are just fine with U.S. regulators, but a big issue for the European Union.
Where do things go from here?
One certainly might speculate that the inevitable next development is going to be inter-industry combinations, that link airlines, hotels, AND rental cars all under one roof (“Red Roof,” perhaps? sorry, I couldn’t resist).
Yup, that’s right: get ready for Marriott-Delta-Hertz . . .