Asda Group Ltd.’s £600 million ($735 million) Co-operative Group gas station deal is being investigated by the UK’s antitrust watchdog and could yet face an in-depth probe.
(Bloomberg) — Asda Group Ltd.’s £600 million ($735 million) Co-operative Group gas station deal is being investigated by the UK’s antitrust watchdog and could yet face an in-depth probe.
The Competition and Markets Authority said Tuesday it’s looking into whether the deal could result in a substantial lessening of competition in the UK market.
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.
It’s not the first time Asda has faced scrutiny over filling stations by the competition agency, with fuel pricing becoming a focus for the CMA. 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.
The agency set itself a March 14 deadline to decide whether to open a phase 2 investigation.
“We referred the acquisition to the CMA when it completed last October and look forward to working collaboratively with them in the coming months,” a spokesperson for Asda said.
(Updates with Asda spokesperson comment in the sixth paragraph)
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