News story
Country stores merger referred for in-depth investigation
Mole Valley’s purchase of the retail arm of Countrywide Farmers is being referred for an in-depth investigation, after the CMA found competition concerns.
On 21 February the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced that it would refer the merger for a phase 2 investigation unless Mole Valley offered acceptable proposals to address these concerns.
As the parties have not offered satisfactory undertakings, the CMA will now refer the merger.
A decision on the merger will be made by a group of independent panel members supported by a case team of CMA staff. The deadline for the final report is 20 August 2018.
Information relating to the investigation is available on the case page.