The competition watchdog is to clear the merger of two of the powered access market’s biggest players, following an inquiry.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced in November this year that it would run the rule over the proposed deal between French-owned Loxam Group of UK Platforms, through its UK subsidiary Nationwide Platforms.
The CMA wanted to considered whether the acquisition would create a “relevant merger situation” under the provisions of the Enterprise Act 2002 and if so, whether it was likely to result in a “substantial lessening” of competition in the market.
Today, it announced that it has cleared the deal.
A full text of the decision will be made available shortly, it added.
HSS, which has owned UK Platforms since it bought the business from manufacturer Haulotte in 2013, announced a conditional £60.5m deal to sell it to Nationwide in July this year.
As part of the deal, HSS also entered into a long-term strategic commercial agreement with Nationwide to provide powered access equipment to complement HSS’s existing fleet.
Nationwide Platforms is the largest hire firm in the mobile elevating work platforms (MEWP) market in the UK.
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