UK probes US takeover of British supermarket Morrisons

Britain’s competition regulator on Friday said it would probe the almost $10-billion takeover of UK supermarket chain Morrisons by US private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R).

The Competition and Markets Authority has served a so-called initial enforcement order that prevents the merger completing until the CMA is satisfied that the new group will not dominate British petrol stations in certain locations.

“The CMA is investigating the anticipated acquisition of WM Morrison Supermarkets… by Clayton, Dubilier & Rice Holdings,” a statement said, adding that each company’s petrol station operations were being looked at.

CD&R operates about 900 UK filling stations after purchasing Motor Fuel Group in 2015.

Morrisons meanwhile has around 335 petrol stations attached to supermarkets.

Together the pair will own about 15 percent of UK petrol stations.

Morrisons agreed to the £7.0-billion takeover after being caught in a bidding war after the UK supermarket sector benefitted hugely from a shift to online shopping during the pandemic.

The probe echoes a CMA investigation into a 2020 takeover of Walmart-owned UK supermarket Asda, whose new owners EG Group and private equity backer TDR Capital eventually agreed to offload 27 petrol stations.