Asda Group Ltd. has offered to sell 13 filling stations with grocery stores attached to get its £600 million ($738 million) Co-operative Group Ltd. gas station deal across the line and allay concerns voiced by the UK antitrust watchdog.
(Bloomberg) — Asda Group Ltd. has offered to sell 13 filling stations with grocery stores attached to get its £600 million ($738 million) Co-operative Group Ltd. gas station deal across the line and allay concerns voiced by the UK antitrust watchdog.
The Competition and Markets Authority said Tuesday there was reasonable grounds for believing that the undertakings offered may be accepted, paving the way for the tie-up to be cleared.
The UK’s third-largest grocer struck a deal to buy 132 gas filling and grocery retail sites nationwide, three of which are development plots, in August. It said about 2,300 Co-op employees would transfer to Asda as part of the deal.
Asda has previously faced scrutiny over filling stations by the CMA, as fuel pricing has become a focus for the agency.
The Issa brothers and TDR Capital agreed with the watchdog to sell some 27 stations when it took a majority stake in Asda. While Clayton Dubilier & Rice LLC offered to sell 87 gas stations to get its £7 billion purchase of WM Morrison Supermarkets Ltd. over the line last year.
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