Retail mergers: a review of government policy Available to Purchase

In recent years the retail sector has witnessed a spate of merger activity, partly because some companies have been unable to solve difficult trading problems in any other way, and partly because other companies see acquisitions as the only way to achieve rapid growth. For example, there has been Habitat's acquisition of Mothercare; Argyll Foods' purchase of Allied Suppliers; the sale of Woolworth's in October 1982; and, at the time of writing, bids involving UDS and others. While all this activity has been going on, the Government has been coming under increasing pressure from both businessmen and its own backbenchers to clarify merger policy. In this article Stuart Eliot sets out to review current policy towards retail mergers and considers whether any amendments are desirable.