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OFT clears acquisition of BSS by Travis Perkins, subject to conditions

The OFT has cleared the acquisition of BSS Group by Travis Perkins (TP), subject to the sales of outlets in 20 local areas.

The main overlap between the parties arises due to the combination of TP's City Plumbing Supplies subsidiary and BSS's Plumbing Trade Supplies subsidiary, both of which specialise in the sale of specialist plumbing and heating (P&H) products.

The OFT considered whether the proposed merger would lead to unilateral effects at the national and/or local level in the market for the sale of P&H products. At the national level the OFT concluded the merger would not lead to a reduction in competition as the parties' combined market share is less than 40%, CPS and PTS are not each others' closest competitors and the parties would continue to face competition from at least four other players. At the local level the OFT identified 20 areas where the merger might reduce competition by reducing the number of local fascia to three or less, which were resolved through local divestments. The OFT also considered whether the merger would give rise to any vertical effects or anticompetitive buyer power, and concluded that it would not have these effects.

A CRA team including Cristina Caffarra, Diana Jackson and Ian Small assisted the parties during the OFT investigation, in particular on the assessment of national competition and the analysis of local overlaps.

See OFT press release for further details.

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