FirstGroup plc – request to release merger undertakings
An invitation to comment on a request by FirstGroup to release the undertakings given in the acquisition of SB Holdings Limited.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is inviting comments on a request by FirstGroup plc (FirstGroup) to release the undertakings given in relation to its bus business across southern and central Scotland.
The undertakings were accepted in 2002 following the Monopolies and Mergers Commission’s review of the 1996 acquisition of SB Holdings Limited, a Scottish bus operator. The undertakings were last reviewed by the Competition Commission in 2008.
The CMA is considering whether to launch a review of these undertakings under section 88(4)(a) of the Fair Trading Act 1973 as applied by paragraph 16(3) of Schedule 24 to the Enterprise Act 2002.