IQVIA Drops Plan to Purchase Propel Media After FTC Injunction

IQVIA Holdings Inc. said it no longer plans to acquire California health advertising firm Propel Media Inc. after the Federal Trade Commission won its motion to temporarily block the deal last week.

The FTC sued in July to block the acquisition of Propel by IQVIA, the world’s largest health care data provider.

The agency alleged the deal would lead to further consolidation in the market for health care programmatic ads and drive up prices, part of a broader trend of more aggressive antitrust enforcement. The size of the purchase hadn’t been disclosed.

IQVIA in a statement said it maintains the FTC’s arguments in this case are inconsistent with the reality of the marketplace and unsupported by the law.

But the court’s ruling would require an administrative trial and suck up more time, energy, and resources, wrote Chris Paquette, the CEO of DeepIntent, Propel’s healthcare advertising platform.

Earlier: FTC Gets Court Backing to Halt IQVIA’s Purchase of Propel Media

“In light of the Court’s decision, the acquisition agreement between IQVIA and Propel Media has been terminated,” IQVIA said in a statement on Friday.

The decision comes after Judge Edgardo Ramos of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York said in a Dec. 29 ruling that a preliminary injunction halting the proposed transaction “is in the public interest.”

“The FTC has shown that there is a reasonable probability that the proposed acquisition will substantially impair competition in the relevant market and that the equities weigh in favor of injunctive relief,” Ramos said in the ruling.