Rentokil buyout of Mitie pest control business given green light by regulator August 22, 2019 Rentokil’s bid to hive off parts of its newly-acquired pest control business from Mitie so as to assuage competition concerns has been accepted by regulators. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has given the deal its blessing, as long as Rentokil sells the majority of the majority of the business that used to be called [...]
Energy group Wood to sell nuclear arm for £250m August 20, 2019 British energy services firm Wood is to sell its nuclear business for about £250m ($301m) to a subsidiary of US company Jacobs in a drive to reduce its debt. Read more: EDF seeks guarantee for nuclear project The firm made the announcement as it released its half-year results, which showed a rise in pre-tax profit [...]
5G fisticuffs: EE files complaint over Three’s ‘real’ network advert August 19, 2019 Mobile operator EE has fired the latest salvo in an escalating clash between telecoms firms, filing a complaint with the advertising watchdog over a campaign promoting Three’s 5G network. EE has raised concerns about newspaper and social media adverts that claimed Three’s network provided the only “real” 5G service. Under advertising rules, a brand must [...]
Beware picking an investment – or a football team – for its glory days August 14, 2019 Football being what it is, Liverpool’s triumphant Champions League campaign – with that extraordinary semi-final comeback against Barcelona to the fore – was never going to have every single club fan in the country up on their feet and cheering. Nevertheless, the weeks from the team’s victory over Spurs in June to the start of [...]
Aspen pays out £8m to NHS in antitrust probe August 14, 2019 Aspen Pharmacare has agreed to pay £8m to the NHS as part of a settlement with the competition watchdog after admitting it made an anti-competitive deal with two other companies. The drug maker has accepted it formed an “illegal, anti-competitive agreement” when it entered into an agreement with two rivals in 2016. Read more: Private [...]
Ineos on the hunt for new auditor after dropping PwC in wake of tax fallout August 7, 2019 UK energy giant Ineos is reportedly dropping PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) as its auditor amid speculation of a major tax row between the two sides. Ineos, which is owned by British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, is on the hunt for a new accountancy group to replace the big four beancounter, according to Sky News. Read more: Ineos plans [...]
Food industry calls for competition laws to be lifted for no-deal Brexit August 7, 2019 The UK’s food industry has called on Boris Johnson to ditch parts of competition law, allowing firms to work together in the event of a no-deal Brexit. The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) has warned that leaving on 31 October without a transition in place could cause widespread supply issues, leaving British consumers either going [...]
Facebook ‘still flooded with fake reviews’ despite regulator warning August 6, 2019 Facebook is failing to crack down on a “thriving” marketplace of fake reviews on its website, despite being told by regulators to tackle the problem, a new investigation has revealed. Consumer group Which found dozens of groups on the social media site that recruit people to write fake reviews on ecommerce sites such as Amazon [...]
Why has the weaker pound failed to turbocharge the economy? August 5, 2019 The sharp fall in the pound in the wake of the 2016 Brexit referendum would help “rebalance the UK economy”, in the words of Mervyn King, former governor of the Bank of England. But since then, the UK has struggled to improve its trade position and has certainly not seen any boost to GDP growth. [...]
Competition watchdog will probe Salesforce’s massive $15.7bn takeover of Tableau August 2, 2019 Britain’s competition watchdog will investigate Salesforce’s $15.7bn (£12.4bn) buyout of Tableau Software, it said this morning. Salesforce completed the mammoth takeover yesterday, which is the biggest acquisition in the company’s history. Read more: Salesforce to buy Tableau Software in $15.7bn deal But the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has opened an investigation into whether the [...]