Kingfisher announced that the merger with Mr Bricolage failed due to unanticipated competition concerns and the number of commitments required in order to receive clearance from the French Competition Authority.
CRA, hired by a third party to the merger, identified all local markets where the acquisition would have led to a prejudicial loss of competition. CRA prepared an extensive economic report showing that the merger raised competitive concerns in many local markets hence required a large number of divestments. Local markets have been defined on a case by case basis according to the specificities of each local area using our client’s information and public data. Further, CRA conducted an econometric study to assess whether trading companies and home improvement stores should be in the same relevant market.
When those concerns were shared with the parties, Mr Bricolage decided as a result to give up on the project given the vast number of divestments needed for the merger to be cleared.