The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched an inquiry into eBay’s $1.2 billion acquisition of Depop over its potential impact on competition in the country.

The competition regulator confirmed on Monday that the deal to buy the consumer-to-consumer (C2C) fashion marketplace meets the requirements of the Enterprise Act 2002, allowing the review process to begin.

The initial review period began on Tuesday and will run until 6 August, when the body will decide if it advances to phase two. This follows an initial commentary stage in which interested parties were able to submit their views on the deal, which lasted from 23 April to 8 May.

The deal, initially announced in February, is intended to support eBay’s C2C strategy and deepen its reach with a younger market, with nearly 90 per cent of the marketplace’s seven million active buyers under the age of 34.

eBay is acquiring the mobile-first company from online marketplace Etsy, which said at the time that it now intends to focus “exclusively” on driving sustainable growth for its core marketplace.

Jamie Ianonne, chief executive of eBay, said at the time that “Depop has built a trusted, social-forward marketplace with strong momentum in the pre-loved fashion category, and we are confident that as part of eBay, Depop will be even more well-positioned for long-term growth, benefiting from our scale, complementary offerings, and operational capabilities”.

In February, former UK country manager for Amazon Doug Gurr was appointed as permanent CMA chair following a year-long tenure in an interim capacity aimed at refocusing the regulator on economic growth.

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