Topic
Regulatory review of acquisitions and changes of corporate control to assess their effect on competition.
Sainsbury's, the UK's second-largest grocer, held merger talks with sixth-placed Morrisons from November to February before walking away. A competition ruling on Aldi and Lidl due this month will shape how many stores a revived deal would cost.
Reality
Virgin Media O2 called BT's £400 million rescue of TalkTalk a stitch-up, days after the CMA said it could block Nexfibre's Netomnia deal. The CMA's objection there is that CityFibre, another challenger, would be squeezed out of wholesale competition.
Reality
Sainsbury's held exploratory talks this year on a Morrisons merger that would have created a grocer with 23.6% of the UK market, the FT and Sky reported. Any revival would turn on whether the competition regulator accepted store sales as the price of approval.
Reality
Lisa Nandy has added vulnerable telecare users to the review of BT's £400m debt-free purchase of TalkTalk out of administration. Once the competition watchdog reports, she can weigh alarm safety and critical networks against BT's bigger market share.
Perspective Coverage
5 publishersReality
Korea's arms procurement agency says Hanwha, now KAI's second-largest shareholder, faces a full merger review if it puts directors on the board. That puts the deal's regulatory cost on the step from shareholder to controller.
Reality