Mon 11th May 2015 - Rooney Anand – CMA ruling on Spirit takeover ‘sensible’ Rooney Anand – CMA ruling on Spirit takeover ‘sensible’: Greene King chief executive Rooney Anand has welcomed the The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) ruling that Greene King’s acquisition of Spirit raises limited competition issues, with only 16 local areas giving rise to concern that the companies are “key rivals and did not face sufficient competition from other outlets, meaning that the loss of that competition may lead to an increase in prices or a deterioration in the quality of the offering”. Greene King stated: “Greene King is cooperating fully with the CMA and intends to offer acceptable undertakings in order to address the CMA’s competition concerns. Greene King has until 18 May 2015 to do so and the CMA will then have until 26 May 2015 to consider whether there are reasonable grounds for believing that the undertakings offered by Greene King, or a modified version of them, might be accepted by the CMA under the Enterprise Act 2002. If the CMA is minded to accept the undertakings, a period of consultation would follow before the formal decision by the CMA on whether to accept the undertakings in lieu of a phase 2 investigation. Notwithstanding this, Greene King continues to intend to complete the acquisition by the end of June and accordingly, Greene King and Spirit have agreed, with the consent of the Panel, to extend the Long Stop Date for completion of the Acquisition from 31 May 2015 to 30 June 2015.” Rooney Anand, Greene King chief executive officer, added: “This is a sensible decision by the CMA, reflecting a small number of local areas where competition may be diminished as a result of our acquisition of Spirit. We are confident we will be able to offer suitable undertakings, which will keep the number of pubs we need to sell to a minimum and allow the acquisition to complete before the end of June.”