TSCDY Tesco PLC (PK)

By Ian Walker

LONDON--The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority Friday formally cleared the planned merger of Poundland Group PLC (PLND.LN) and 99p Stores Ltd. as it says it believes there will be no lessening of competition.

The regulator, which announced its preliminary findings in August, said customers won't face a reduction in choice, value or quality of service as a result of the merger.

It said that along with single price retailer peer Poundworld, the companies are each other's closest competitors, but after the merger they will still face competition from other value retailers such as B&M, Home Bargains, Wilko and Bargain Buys, along with Tesco and to an extent Asda.

Poundland said it welcomes the decision and will now move to complete the acquisition of 99p Stores by the end of September.

"We believe that the acquisition of 99p Stores will be great for both customers and for shareholders and we will now move to completion by the end of the month," Chief Executive Jim McCarthy said.

Poundland announced its plan to buy 99p Stores for 55 million pounds ($84.43 million) in February, but the CMA aired doubts in April, calling on the companies to propose measures to show that the merger wouldn't hurt consumers by reducing competition.

At the time the CMA said the transaction could substantially reduce competition in 80 areas where the discount retailers overlap and in a further 12 areas where they will be competitors in the near future.

On April 17, Poundland said it had decided against taking steps to ease the concerns of antitrust regulators.

(Jana Simmons contributed to this article.)

Write to Ian Walker at ian.walker@wsj.com; @IanWalk40289749

Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 18, 2015 02:35 ET (06:35 GMT)

Tesco (PK) (USOTC:TSCDY)
Historical Stock Chart
Von Jun 2024 bis Jul 2024

Tesco (PK) (USOTC:TSCDY)
Historical Stock Chart
Von Jul 2023 bis Jul 2024