Latin Antitrust Chronicles: September 2025-March 2026

Key Takeaways

• CADE approved Petz‑Cobasi merger with divestiture of 26 São Paulo stores
• Merger could raise pet‑food prices up to 15% without remedies
• Bill 4675/2025 proposes a Digital Markets Superintendence within CADE
• Estimated compliance cost of the bill ranges $540 M–$2.3 B over ten years
• Critics say ex‑ante rules may burden startups and lift consumer prices

Pulse Analysis

Brazil’s competition authority, CADE, is navigating an increasingly complex antitrust terrain. The Petz‑Cobasi merger, valued at roughly $1.4 billion in revenue and featuring a $80 million cash component, became the most hotly contested retail deal of 2025. By mandating the sale of 26 stores in São Paulo and imposing limits on exclusivity clauses, CADE aimed to curb potential price hikes and preserve market entry for smaller pet‑shop operators. Yet rival Petlove and consumer NGOs argue the remedies fall short, warning that concentration could still drive pet‑food prices up by 15 percent in dozens of local markets.

Concurrently, Bill 4675/2025 proposes a dedicated Digital Markets Superintendence within CADE, mirroring ex‑ante frameworks seen in the EU’s DMA and Japan’s platform law. Proponents argue the measure is essential to address data‑driven network effects that traditional post‑hoc enforcement struggles to remedy. However, independent economic studies estimate the compliance burden could range from $540 million to $2.3 billion over ten years, with up to half of those costs ultimately passed on to downstream sellers and consumers. This cost profile has galvanized civil‑society coalitions and industry groups who caution that premature regulation may stifle innovation and hurt small‑business ecosystems.

The regulatory momentum extends to platform governance, as evidenced by CADE’s settlement with Apple over iOS app‑store restrictions. The agreement, which follows a complaint by Mercado Livre, signals a willingness to intervene in digital ecosystems beyond traditional market‑share analysis. Together, these developments illustrate a broader shift in Latin America toward proactive, technology‑aware competition policy—balancing the need for market fairness with the risk of over‑regulation that could impede growth in a digitally‑driven economy.