The U.S. Justice Department filed a lawsuit on Thursday challenging a June 2012 acquisition by Bazaarvoice Inc of its main rival, a deal the department said reduced competition in the market for product ratings platforms.The $168.2 million purchase of PowerReviews Inc has been completed, the department said in a news release.Bazaarvoice shares fell sharply on news of the lawsuit, down $1.08, or 12 percent, to $7.82 on Nasdaq.The two firms help companies use social media to advertise and also to try to control any damage to clients' reputations from bad reviews. PowerReviews helped online retailers set up customer review sections on their websites so that they could compete with Amazon.
Bazaarvoice, Inc. (Bazaarvoice) is provider of social commerce solutions that help its clients capture, display and analyze online word of mouth, including consumer-generated ratings and reviews, questions and answers, stories, recommendations, photographs, videos and other content about its clients' brands, products or services. Shares of BV fell by 15.22% or $-1.355/share to $7.54. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $8.62 and as high as $21.10. On average, 599988 shares of BV exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 1732916.
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