皇冠体育app

JD Sports had appealed the Competition and Market Authority鈥檚 (CMA) final decision to block its takeover of Footasylum, arguing that the assessment of the effects of the merger on competition was too broad and that the CMA had failed to gather enough information regarding the effects of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in the retail sector.

Today鈥檚 judgment has supported the way in which the CMA assessed the effects of the merger on consumers but found that it did not go far enough in its information gathering about the impact of the coronavirus.

皇冠体育app CMA welcomes the Tribunal鈥檚 endorsement of the CMA鈥檚 analytical framework for assessing the effects of the merger on consumers. 皇冠体育app judgment supports the CMA鈥檚 analysis of the evidence which led the CMA to conclude that JD Sports and Footasylum are close competitors and that the merger would lead to a substantial lessening of competition to the detriment of consumers. 皇冠体育app judgment states that the CMA had 鈥渧ery substantial evidence鈥� on which to base its decision and provided 鈥渟ubstantial reasons for its assessment鈥�.

Coronavirus hit the UK heavily including with the first lockdown in the final weeks of the CMA鈥檚 inquiry. This meant that the CMA鈥檚 assessment of the impact of the pandemic on its decision about the likely future effects of the merger was undertaken in the context of great uncertainty about the longer term impact of the coronavirus on the retail sector. 皇冠体育app CMA therefore decided in early April that asking suppliers, and Footasylum鈥檚 bank, for updated forecasts would not be fruitful because it would have been speculative and unreliable evidence on how the coronavirus would affect the retail sector over the longer term.

CMA Chief Executive Andrea Coscelli said:

皇冠体育app CMA welcomes the Tribunal鈥檚 strong endorsement of its approach to making sure that mergers don鈥檛 leave UK shoppers worse off. Today鈥檚 judgment reinforces the way in which we analyse and assess the evidence we receive in these cases, and the decisions we make to protect consumers.

However, we are disappointed that the Tribunal disagreed with the CMA鈥檚 approach to information gathering about the specific impact of coronavirus on the sector given the circumstances at that time. We will now take stock of today鈥檚 judgment and carefully consider our next steps, including whether to appeal.

For more information, visit the聽JD Sports / Footasylum merger inquiry case page.

For media queries, contact the CMA press office on 020 3738 6460 or聽[email protected].