Retail giant Tesco could be facing a full investigation over its £3.7 billion takeover of Booker by the UK's competition authorities.
Earlier this month it was announced that the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) would be conducting an investigation to asses 'whether the deal could reduce competition and choice for shoppers and other customers'.
In-Depth Probe
The first phase of this investigation was set to be completed by 25 July, however, Booker and Tesco say that they have requested the CMA use a 'fast track' process to allow it to move more quickly and examine the merger through a more detailed second phase.
The CMA says that the phase 1 decision can be expected within the next 10 working days, while the statutory timetable for the in-depth phase 2 investigation would be 24 weeks.
Tesco announced the merger with food wholesale group Booker in January 2017, with chief executive Dave Lewis saying that the acquisition would create "the UK's leading food business". Originally the merger was set to be completed by late 2017 or early 2018.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Sarah Harford. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
