Competition watchdog probes £7bn Morrisons takeover

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is scrutinising the £7bn takeover of Bradford-headquartered supermarket chain Morrisons by US private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R).

The CMA has today issued an initial enforcement order on Morrisons, CD&R, and Motor Fuel Group.

But the CMA wants to see if there are potential competition issues between Motor Fuel’s petrol stations and the 335 fuel outlets which are operated by Morrisons.

The takeover of Morrisons could mean CD&R would be in charge of more than 1,200 of the UK’s 8,000 petrol stations.

Morrisons has been told by the regulator that it should continue to be run as an independent business with its own brand and management for the time being.

The CMA is currently gathering evidence before launching its investigation.