The British antitrust does not stop and after having blocked a few days ago the expansion of Muller who can not yet get his hands on the English Yew Tree Dairy now delays, in fact, the acquisition of Britvic by Carlbserg. The British Cma, the Authority for Competition and the Market has in fact announced that it is "investigating" the planned acquisition of Britvic by Carlsberg: a not insignificant operation, Indeed, as the Britvic board of directors accepted a £3.3 billion bid from Carlsberg on 8 July and the company’s shareholders voted in favour of the transaction on 27 August. 

Again, the competition authority is concerned that the transaction may weaken competition. In a statement published on its website, the Cma said that the investigation will assess whether the transaction, if completed, "will lead to a substantial reduction of competition" in the beverage market. The Competition and market authority has therefore invited interested parties to submit their comments as part of an information gathering process that will be used to launch Phase 1 of the investigation. Comments can be sent between 10 and 24 September, even if the date of the initial investigation has not yet been announced.

In detail, the launch of the initiative by the competition authority is contained in an official release that states: "The Cma is considering whether or could be that this transaction, if completed, would result in a significant concentration under the merger provisions of the Enterprise Act 2002 and, if so, whether it can be expected that the creation of such a situation will lead to a substantial reduction in competition within one or more markets for goods or services in the United Kingdom".

"The Competition and market authority, continues the note, publishes this 'preliminary call for comments' to allow interested parties to submit their initial views on the impact that the transaction may have on competition in the Kingdom United States. This call for comments is the first part of the information-gathering process, before the formal investigation is opened".

"The Cma, adds the statement, can proactively contact companies and organisations operating in the markets affected by the merger or having valuable information or evidence that could help the investigation. To assist in this assessment, the Competition and market authority invites all interested parties to submit comments on the transaction". The UK authority has confirmed that it will provide an update on its investigation once Phase 1 of the investigation is officially launched.

In response to the news, a Carlsberg spokesman said: 'we believe that combining Carlsberg’s activities with those of Britvic will create a very interesting multi-beverage supplier, It will benefit from an efficient supply chain and distribution network, and provide customers with a portfolio of market leading brands and cutting-edge customer service. The Cma’s call for comments is a standard step in the examination of the transaction and was fully expected. Following approval by Britvic’s shareholders last month, and provided regulatory approvals and other outstanding conditions are met, the transaction should be completed by the first quarter of 2025". 

It will now be necessary to see, not least because the operation was by no means easy: it took three offers from Carlsberg before the board of directors of Britvic finally approved an improved offer of £3.3 billion, equal to 3.9 billion Euros valuing the company at 1,315 pence per share. At the time of the announcement, Carlsberg and Britvic stated that the agreement should be completed in the first quarter of 2025: if the transaction is carried out without further resistance from Carlsberg plans to create a single integrated beverage company in the UK, called Carlsberg Britvic.