The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has cleared Hays Travel’s acquisitions of Polka Dot Travel and Millington Travel to proceed.
The CMA issued the go-ahead today ahead of the deadlines for a decision at the start of next week. The CMA could have decided to proceed to a more-detailed phase 2 investigation of the impact of the acquisitions on competition.
It said it would publish the full text of its decision shortly.
The CMA launched its merger inquiries in February after issuing Initial Enforcement Orders halting Hays’ integration of the businesses in mid-December.
Hays announced the takeover of Polka Dot and its 15 shops in the northwest of England and North Wales on October 30 last year, and its acquisition of Millington Travel which has 14 outlets in the East Midlands on November 5.
The CMA’s intervention almost six weeks later came as a surprise.
Hays had made a series of acquisitions over the previous two years, expanding to 530 branches, and the only previous takeover to attract CMA attention was that of Cruise.co.uk parent Victoria Travel Group in July last year.
In that case, Hays was able to satisfy the CMA’s competition concerns without an investigation.
This required the businesses to remain separate and with “no significant changes” while the CMA investigated whether either or both acquisitions could lead to a “substantial lessening of competition”.
However, the CMA agreed ‘derogations’ from the initial enforcement orders allowing some cooperation between Hays and the two businesses with certain safeguards.
Sources close to the acquisitions suggested Hays remained confident the takeovers would be allowed to proceed once the CMA completed its investigation.
