Booking Holdings (BKNG.O) on Wednesday lost its fight against an EU antitrust veto ​of its €1.63 billion ($1.90 billion) ETraveli acquisition three years ‌ago, as Europe’s second-highest court sided with regulators.

The European Commission, in its 2023 decision, said the deal would have created a ​travel ecosystem for Booking, leaving rivals unable to ​compete.

The Luxembourg-based General Court agreed with the EU ⁠competition enforcer and rejected Booking’s arguments that the ​Commission had not followed its own merger rules, and had ​applied an incorrect legal standard.

“The Commission found, correctly, that the acquisition of Etraveli Group, Europe’s leading online flight booking operator, would have ​strengthened Booking’s already dominant position on the market ​for online travel agencies in the hotel sector,” judges said.

The Commission, which ‌acts ⁠as the EU competition enforcer, has increased its scrutiny of tech deals in recent years due to concerns over “killer acquisitions”, where dominant firms buy smaller rivals to ​eliminate competition or ​strengthen their ⁠market position.

Booking’s brands include Booking.com, Rentalcars, Priceline and Agoda. Swedish rival ETraveli, which is ​owned by private equity firm CVC Capital ​Partners, ⁠owns Gotogate and Mytrip and also operates airline content distribution services provider TripStack.

The ruling can be appealed to the ⁠Court of ​Justice of the European Union, ​Europe’s highest.