In March 2014, following its provisional findings in the previous month, the UK Competition Commission (UKCC) formally cleared two mergers that resulted in the reduction of competitors in the relevant markets from four to three and three to two respectively.
The completed joint venture between Tradebe Environmental Services Limited (Tradebe) and SITA UK Limited (Sita), and the anticipated acquisition by Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (Ericsson) of Creative Broadcast Services Holdings (2) Limited (Creative), were referred to the UKCC by the UK Office of Fair Trading (OFT) in late 2013. The OFT considered that the transactions raised realistic prospects of a substantial lessening of competition: (1) in the case of the Ericsson acquisition, in the market for the provision of complex, highly reactive outsourced linear playout services; and (2), in the case of the Tradebe/Sita joint venture, in relation to the collection, processing and disposal of healthcare risk waste for "large quantity generator" customers in the Birmingham and Gloucester areas.
While both transactions substantially reduce the number of competitors in the relevant markets (from four competitors to three in the case of the Ericsson acquisition, and three competitors to two in the case of Tradebe/Sita), the UKCC found that they were unlikely to give rise to a substantial lessening of competition in any market in the UK because of (in the case of Ericsson/Creative) the nature of the competitive tender process and the potential for other competitors to exert the same level of competitive constraint, and (in Tradebe/Sita) the strong position of the remaining competitor and the potential for significant price reductions as a result of the merger. The UKCC published its final report for Ericsson/Creative on March 27, 2014 and for Tradebe/Sita on March 28, 2014.
The final report for the Ericsson/Creative merger is available here and for Tradebe/Sita is available here.
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