Cheshire couple avoid Competition Commission

A HUSBAND and wife team from Cheshire have been told the sale of their small business will not be referred to the Competition Commission.

Professor Jorgen Hermansson is in talks with the French group Chiral Technologies Europe (CTE) over the disposal of Chromtech, the Congleton-based business he owns with his wife.

It employs five staff and has worldwide sales of less than £5m, with just £80,000 in the UK.

But the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) was called in because the deal will give CTE 90% of the specialist chiral chromatography market in the UK.

Chiral chromatography involves the separation of compounds in a laboratory environment and has applications in the pharmaceutical, chemical and agricultural industries.

Following an inquiry the OFT said it would not refer the case to the Competition Commission because the companies focused on different products within the chiral market.

It also said industrial groups such as Fuji Chemical and Regis were joining the sector as patents expired.

In a statement the OFT added: “The size of market is such that the costs involved in a reference to the Competition Commission would have been disproportionate to any benefits.”

Prof Hermannsson said a referral would have scuppered the deal.

He added: “We are very happy about this decision. It means we can continue with these discussions.”