Non-law student help - is competition good?

[M1999]

I am a non-law student & I am a bit confused about competition law.

Say if company A is acquiring company B. Company B's product has a lot of competition. Is it attractive or unattractive for company A to acquire company B knowing the product has competition in the market? And why? I am getting super confused, thanks so much in advance!

 

[Jaysen]

I am a non-law student & I am a bit confused about competition law.

Say if company A is acquiring company B. Company B's product has a lot of competition. Is it attractive or unattractive for company A to acquire company B knowing the product has competition in the market? And why? I am getting super confused, thanks so much in advance!

I'm assuming this question was put in the context of competition law, rather than just being a question why competition is generally good or bad.

Looking at this question strictly from a competition law perspective, and put very simplistically, more competition is attractive because it would imply the acquisition would not give the acquirer an overly dominant position in the market and impede competition. As a result, this would be less likely to attract the attention of competition regulators.

(Obviously it depends on the size of the companies we are discussing, where the acquisition takes place, whether it triggers the relevant thresholds etc.)