Travis offers to sell stores to gain merger approval

26th Oct 2010 18:23

The Office of Fair trading says that it is considering Travis Perkins' offer to sell stores in order to gain approval for its bid for plumbing supplies firm BSS Group. The OFT does not believe that the merger will cause competition problems at a national level because it still has a number of rivals. However, in some local areas there are competition concerns. These areas have not been revealed for reasons of confidentiality. The builders' merchant has offered to sell off stores in 20 areas where there are concerns. It says that this should not impact the attractiveness of the transaction. The combined business has more than 600 branches. The acquisition should be completed by the end of December.