Morrisons takeover to go ahead after CMA clears petrol stations sale

Britain’s competition watchdog has confirmed the £7bn takeover of supermarket chain Morrisons by US private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice can proceed after a deal was reached on the sale of 87 petrol stations.

CD&R won an auction to buy the Bradford-based supermarket last year, but concerns were raised over its ownership of Motor Fuel Group, the UK's largest independent petrol station operator, with 921 forecourts.

Morrisons operates 335 fuel outlets in England, Scotland and Wales, meaning CD&R would have owned more than 1,200 of the UK's 8,000 petrol stations.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) started a probe in January on how this would affect prices for consumers.

However, the CMA said it had formally accepted an offer from CD&R to sell 87 of its MFG-run forecourts in areas of concern in order to push the takeover through.

It added that the proposal appeared “to be suitable to restore the loss of competition brought about by the deal across each of the 121 local areas in which the concerns were identified”.