CMA clears Asda’s takeover of Co-op forecourts

The Competition and Markets Authority has on Thursday accepted the undertakings from Asda to divest 13 petrol filling stations and grocery stores to secure the regulator’s approval for its acquisition of 132 forecourts from Co-op.

Following the conclusion of its initial investigation into the deal, announced in October last year, the CMA had ruled that the completed acquisition could mean higher prices or less choice for motorists or shoppers in 13 areas.

The CMA investigation focused on a number of local areas in which Asda and the Co-op sites that it acquired compete to provide fuel or groceries to customers, adding that the deal raises competition concerns in 13 locations across the UK, in each of which the merging businesses currently compete for customers and would not face sufficient competition after the merger.

The locations included 11 areas where the retail supply of fuel is affected and three areas where the supply of groceries affected. One of the locations, Earlston, Scotland, raised competition concerns in relation to the supply of both petrol and groceries. One of the petrol stations included in the competition areas, in Calcutt, Swindon, belonged to EG Grop, owned by Asda owners Zuber Issa and Mohsin Issa and private equity firm TDR Capital.

Meanwhile, Asda has this week announced plans to buy the UK and Ireland business of EG Group.

The Issa brothers and TDR Capital have in 2021 announced plans to sell Asda’s forecourts to EG Group after the deal to buy the supermarket group from Walmart is completed, but they called off the acquisition later that year citing ‘changes to the financial evaluation of the proposed transaction’.

Earlier, EG Group has divested 27 petrol filling stations after the CMA inquiry into the takeover of Asda by the Issa brothers and TDR Capital.