Competition watchdog kills Sainsbury’s £7.3bn Asda merger: What went wrong? April 25, 2019 Almost a year to the day since Sainsbury’s first revealed that it was in merger talks with Asda, it has all come crashing down. In late April 2018 the two retail giants were losing market share to German discounters Aldi and Lidl, and the threat of Amazon moving into the grocery sector was very real. [...]
Competition regulator blocks Sainsbury’s-Asda merger April 25, 2019 A planned tie-up between supermarket giants Sainsbury’s and Asda suffered a final blow from the UK’s competition watchdog, which said this morning that "it has decided to prohibit the merger in its entirety". Read more: Watchdog may block Sainsbury's-Asda merger Sainsbury’s, Walmart and Asda revealed today that they have mutually agreed to terminate the merger plans [...]
Dignity welcomes watchdog’s probe into high funeral prices March 28, 2019 Dignity has welcomed a competition probe into the funeral sector announced today. Read more: Dignity shares slide after regulator proposes funeral competition probe The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it will carry out a full market investigation into the industry after voicing concerns over high prices and a lack of competition. Dignity, the UK’s [...]
Number of UK coronavirus cases hits 115, with 25 in London March 5, 2020 UK coronavirus cases rose again today from 85 to 115, with London counting 25 Covid-19 infections. Included in today’s figures were 25 new cases in England, and 30 new cases since yesterday’s total. “All are being investigated and contact tracing has begun,” the Department of Health tweeted. A total of 18,083 people in the UK [...]
Lane Clark and Peacock plots takeover of KPMG pensions arm August 26, 2019 Lane Clark and Peacock (LCP), one of the UK’s largest independent financial consultancy firms, is preparing a £200m takeover of KPMG’s pensions advisory arm. The company, which is backed by buyout firm Inflexion, is among a small group of bidders that have made it through to the second round of the auction, Sky News reported. [...]
Sainsbury’s and Asda double down on £1bn price cut pledge to salvage deal March 19, 2019 Sainsbury’s and Asda have outlined their pledge this morning to slash shop prices as a result of a planned merger, doubling down on efforts to push through a major tie-up despite being dealt a recent devastating blow by Britain's competition watchdog. The two grocery giants, who suffered a setback last month when the Competition and Markets [...]
Walmart mulls Asda IPO after Sainsbury’s merger blocked May 15, 2019 Retail giant Walmart has said it is considering a stock market listing for Asda, just weeks after the supermarket’s failed attempt to merge with rival Sainsbury’s. Walmart International boss Judith McKenna said the US chain is considering an initial public offering (IPO) for its UK subsidiary, but said it was “not rushing into anything”. Read [...]
Business lobby groups slam competition watchdog’s calls for radical audit reform April 18, 2019 Business lobby group the CBI said reforms to the audit sector proposed today by the competition watchdog could “undermine confidence in corporate Britain”. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) today called for the Big Four accountancy firm’s audit arms to be split from their non-audit arms with separate profit pool and management in a major [...]
Non-Standard Finance confident of winning competition watchdog approval for £1.3bn Provident bid May 13, 2019 Non-Standard Finance said it expected to alleviate the competition watchdog’s concerns over its proposed £1.3bn hostile takeover of rival subprime lender Provident. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched an investigation into the potential deal in February and prevented NSF from taking steps to integrate the two businesses. Read more: Sparks fly as Provident accused [...]
Watchdog accuses three construction suppliers of forming a cartel to keep prices up April 9, 2019 The competition watchdog has found that three construction suppliers colluded to form a cartel and keep prices up. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said its investigation into groundworks suppliers MGF, Vp and Mabey Hire has provisionally found that the trio broke competition law. Read more: Game over? Watchdog to probe video gaming industry It [...]