BCA acquisition of Aston Barclay facing CMA scrutinty
The Competition and Markets Authority is investigating the BCA acquisition of Aston Barclay after identifying potential competition concerns.
BCA is the largest is the largest provider of business-to-business used vehicle auction services in Great Britain and Aston Barclay is the third largest.
The two companies announced their merger in April this year.
However, the CMA has now announced it will launch an in-depth phase 2 investigation after fears the deal would reduce competition in the sector.
Similar customers
The CMA said: “BCA and Aston Barclay compete closely for similar customers, both offering large-scale used vehicle auctions and having a broad geographic reach.
“Constellation’s acquisition of Aston Barclay significantly increases its already strong market position. Aside from one supplier, other competitors only exert a limited competitive constraint on BCA, given their smaller scale and more limited geographic coverage.
“Having conducted a phase 1 merger investigation, the CMA is concerned the merger may reduce competition, potentially leading to higher prices and/or a reduction in choice for customers using used vehicle auction services, with a subsequent impact on the prices consumers pay for used vehicles.”
It concluded:
“The CMA believes the merger gives rise to a realistic prospect of an substantial lessening of competition in relation to the supply of business-to-business used vehicle auction services in GB.”
