The Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) has been investigating Tarmac Trading’s proposal to acquire 27 ready-mix concrete (RMX) plants from Breedon Group and Breedon's reciprocal plan to acquire four aggregate plants and an asphalt plant from Tarmac.
In its ‘phase one’ review, the CMA has found no problems with Breedon’s acquisitions and has cleared that part of the deal.
However, it has identified competition concerns about Tarmac’s acquisition of RMX plants in the Cardiff, Bridgend and Carnforth areas, where both companies are close rivals. “The lack of other strong suppliers of RMX in these areas could mean that customers would face increased prices or a worse quality of service as a result of the proposed merger,” the CMA said.
It has given Tarmac just one week – until 3rd May – to address these concerns. Otherwise the merger will be referred for a more in-depth phase two investigation by an independent group of CMA panel members.
Breedon said that the outcome was "not unexpected" and it expected to agree remedies with the CMA in time for the acquisition to complete later this summer.
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