Expert legal advice from The Competition Lawyers

Category: Mergers

Competition law in sports: CVC Capital and Six Nations Rugby

First published by Author on September 04, 2022 in the following categories: Acquisitions Industry Investigations Mergers and tagged with | | |

In March 2021, it was announced that CVC Capital and Six Nations Rugby had come to deal on a 14.3% stake in the Six Nations, for which it reportedly paid a huge £365 million. However, in the wake of this proposed agreement, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) saw fit to begin an investigation into whether or not the merger would provoke a decrease in competition within the market.

When major deals occur in any sector, it is natural and routine for the CMA to look into any potential changes to competition which may be caused, so the fact that a CMA investigation was triggered does not necessarily confirm that a breach of competition law has occurred, or that any action will be taken against the organisation under investigation. Such was the case for the CVC Capital deal, which was cleared by the CMA in July.

Nevertheless, it is worth considering why the CMA made the decision to investigate and how it came to its decision, as cases like this can give a valuable insight into how the competition regulator operates in the UK. It is also useful to look at cases like this from the perspective of competition law in sport.

read more

Extra time allowed in the Asda Sainsbury merger investigation

First published by Author on December 28, 2018 in the following categories: Industry Mergers and tagged with | |

Extra time has been allowed for the lawyers involved in the Asda Sainsbury merger as the CMA looks to protect consumer rights and ensure healthy competition remains.

When news of the £7.3bn Asda Sainsbury merger hit the news, the CMA (Competition and Markets Authority) were quick to act. Their role as the UK’s competition watchdog is to ensure that the behaviours of businesses in a market does not come at a detriment to the consumer. In this investigation, the concern is over whether prices could increase as the merger would lead to the companies overtaking Tesco as the largest supermarket chain in the UK.

The extra time that has been allowed is for the lawyers acting in the Asda Sainsbury merger venture to respond to a number of concerns that have been raised.

read more

Asda-Sainsbury’s merger will raise competition questions

First published by Author on May 03, 2018 in the following categories: Mergers and tagged with |

The Asda-Sainsbury’s merger will raise competition questions and will, we strongly suspect, draw the attention of the UK’s competition watchdog, the Competition and Market’s Authority (CMA), who will conduct a review to assess the impact the merger may have on the market.

With the merger set to result in Asda and Sainsbury’s controlling 60% of the market, the CMA will need to ensure that any merger that does go ahead – if it’s even allowed to proceed in the first place – will not put consumers in a worse position in the long-run.

Consumers are being promised price cuts of 10%, but in the absence of any specificity as to the products that will be cut, the potential merger has raised a lot of eyebrows.
read more

Has DX and First Post merger created a substantial lessening of competition in the market?

First published by Admin on December 25, 2016 in the following categories: Mergers and tagged with

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) are in the process of deciding whether DX Network Services Ltd (DX) and First Post Ltd (First Post) merger has created a ‘substantial lessening of competition in the market’.
read more

“A Monopoly between Britain’s largest Adult Gaming companies” – CMA investigates the merger of Novomatic and Talarius

First published by Author on October 24, 2016 in the following categories: Mergers and tagged with

In early September, the CMA announced an investigation into the merger between Australian gambling operator, Tatts, and Austrian Gaming Giants, Novomatic. The merger came when Talarius U.K. (subsidiary company of Tatts) failed to reach their targeted profits and sold on their U.K. division to Novomatic on 24 June for £116 million.

The merger could be seen as ‘fishy’ as both companies are seen as big players in the British Adult Gaming industry, with Talarius machines operating in approximately 170 venues across the U.K.
read more