By Yadarisa Shabong
(Reuters) – Britain’s competition watchdog said on Friday the acquisition of Wincanton by U.S.-based warehousing firm GXO Logistics, for 762 million pounds ($983.97 million), could reduce competition and raise prices for customers.
The Competition and Markets Authority said GXO and Wincanton compete closely, particularly for contracts with large retail customers, and the regulator was concerned the merger could reduce competition, resulting in higher costs being passed down to consumers.
The deal was completed in April – the CMA had launched its investigation in early September.
“We are reviewing the decision and will continue to engage constructively and collaboratively with the CMA to secure a positive outcome,” GXO told Reuters.
Earlier this year, GXO outbid CEVA Logistics with a 605 pence per share offer for Wincanton, a company that operates in about 160 locations in the UK and Ireland and is involved in e-commerce, groceries and non-food retail.
Customers of Wincanton include major supermarket operators such as Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Asda.
GXO has five working days to submit proposals to address CMA’s concerns.
($1 = 0.7744 pounds)
(Reporting by DhanushVignesh Babu and Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)
