Britain’s competition regulator said on Thursday it referred GXO Logistics’ (NYSE: GXO) acquisition of UK peer Wincanton to an in-depth investigation after the U.S.-based warehousing firm did not present remedies for competition concerns.
CONTEXT
GXO outbid CEVA, a unit of French shipping firm CMA CGM, to buy the British logistics firm for 762 million pounds ($962.3 million) in March to expand into the UK’s aerospace, utilities, industrial, and healthcare sectors.
Wincanton operates in the UK and Ireland and offers supply chain solutions to businesses across sectors. It counts IKEA, Primark, and BAE Systems among its customers.
GXO operates in almost 30 countries from about 970 warehouse locations and has a large exposure to the aerospace and defense sectors in the U.S.
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) on November 1 said the acquisition could reduce competition and raise prices for customers.
The CMA, which launched its investigation in early September, added that both companies compete closely, particularly for contracts with large retail customers.
An independent panel of experts from the regulator will now engage further with the companies to identify remedial measures that can satisfy its competition concerns.
The CMA can block the transaction if the steps taken by the firms are found unsatisfactory. The regulator has set April 30 as the statutory deadline for the probe.
