Woolworths‘ acquisition of national book wholesaler Bertram has been given final approval by the UK’s competition watchdog, reports IntheNews. In a statement today Woolworths said that the Competition Commission (CC) had “unconditionally cleared” its completed acquisition of Bertram in its final report on the tie-up. The Commission said it had concluded that the merger of Bertram’s and Woolworths’ book wholesaling interests had not resulted, nor was expected to result, in a “substantial lessening” of competition in the supply of books to retailers, or in the supply of books to libraries.
Today’s ruling by the regulator confirms provisional findings published by the CC in July, when competition officials stressed that rival book wholesaler Gardners would continue to keep a check on the market position of the newly merged company.