COMPETITION
COMMISSION News Release (26/08) issued by COI News Distribution
Service. 7 October 2008
The Competition
Commission (CC), together with the Office of Fair Trading (OFT)
and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
(BERR), has commissioned a study of some of past CC and OFT merger
decisions. Following a competitive tendering process, we have
appointed Deloitte & Touche, supported by Professor Stephen
Davies of the University of East Anglia, to assess the analysis
and decision-making in about eight merger cases decided between
2004 and 2006.
John Davies, Chief Economist of the CC, said:
When the CC or OFT decides whether to intervene in a merger case,
the judgement is based on analysis of the likely future evolution
of the market. We can all learn a lot by looking back at past
decisions a few years later, to allow us to improve that analysis.
I am delighted that we have been able to commission an external
team with the right expertise to take an independent look at
whether we and/or the OFT did everything possible to make the
right decision.
The CC and the OFT have commissioned external and internal
reviews of their past merger decisions before. However, this is
the first such review of cases carried out under the Enterprise
Act 2002, which substantially reformed the process of merger
assessment, notably by making the competition authorities
determinative rather than merely advisory to the Government. The
project team is currently considering which merger decisions to
examine, and will then proceed to interview market participants
and gather data on subsequent market developments.
The lessons of past cases may also inform the CC's and
OFT's thinking as they prepare to issue new joint substantive
merger guidelines in 2009, following public consultation. (See
news release: http://www.competition-commission.org.uk/press_rel/ 2008/apr/pdf/11-08.pdf.)
Notes for editors
1. The CC is an independent public body which carries out
investigations into mergers, markets and the regulated industries.
2. The Enterprise Act 2002 empowers the OFT to refer to the CC
completed or proposed mergers for investigation and report which
create or enhance a 25 per cent share of supply in the UK (or a
substantial part thereof) or where the UK turnover associated with
the enterprise being acquired is over £70 million.
3. Further information on the CC and its procedures, including
its policy on the provision of information and the disclosure of
evidence, can be obtained from its website at: http://www.competition-commission.org.uk.
4. Enquiries should be directed to Rory Taylor on 020 7271 0242