Dairy co-ops Lakeland Dairies and LacPatrick have seemingly come closer to finalising a takeover deal as the UK’s competition regulator lifted an enforcement order.
The UK’s Competition and Markets’ Authority (CMA), which began investigating the transaction last year, launched the enforcement order on 23 November 2018.
The formal decision from the CMA is due 13 March this year.
Other Interest
The CMA is one of two regulatory bodies monitoring the deal, with the Republic of Ireland’s Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) continuing its investigations.
Its formal decision is also due sometime in March.
Due to the fact that both cooperatives have operations in Northern Ireland, it is being looked at from both the UK and Irish perspective.
The two cooperatives reached an agreement to merge in October last year following the unanimous approval from the boards of both societies.
It was reported in January that the merger could be completed in the coming months.
© 2019 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Aidan O’Sullivan. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.
