In case you didn’t hear about it, the whole Whirlpool/Arcelik (Beko) deal is under review by the anti-trust regulators, Competition & Market Authority (CMA), and the CMA has decided to move to phase two of the process for the merger of the European operations of Arçelik and Whirlpool.
The CMA has announced the launch of an in-depth analysis that will end on 26 March 2024 to assess whether the project could create a “substantial reduction of competition in any market within the United Kingdom”.
The CMA has appointed a commission of external experts including lawyers, former bankers and researchers.
The start of the investigation that was announced at the beginning of the year has now been moved to at least mid-2024.
The attention of the top management of the two companies as well as of governments, unions and operators therefore shifts to the European Antitrust, which should make a decision by 23 October.
The CMA said that Arcelik and Whirlpool’s position is “particularly strong in the low to mid-range price categories of these domestic appliances, where they would face competition from only a small number of competitors.”
The CMA’s director of mergers, Sorcha O’Carroll, warned that the tie-up “could reduce the choice of suppliers available to retailers and ultimately to shoppers”.
“As competition from other suppliers in the low-mid price range appears to be limited, we are concerned that this tie-up could leave people paying more or receiving lower quality products,” she added last month.
The CMA said the two companies had informed the regulator that they would not be making any moves to address these concerns by the October 5 deadline. So kinda to be expected that further investigation would be taking place really.
