8th Mar 2006 07:03
Competition Commission08 March 2006 News Release 12/06 8 March 2006 CC CLEARS FIRSTGROUP ACQUISITION OF GREATER WESTERN RAIL FRANCHISE The Competition Commission (CC) has formally cleared the acquisition byFirstGroup plc (FirstGroup) of the Greater Western passenger rail franchise(GWF). In its final report published today the CC has concluded that the acquisitionmay not be expected to result in a substantial lessening of competition in thesupply of passenger transport services on point-to-point journeys or widernetwork markets within the GWF area. This confirms the verdict of theprovisional findings report, published in February. The inquiry considered the effect on competition of FirstGroup operatingoverlapping bus and rail services in the GWF area. Diana Guy, Chairman of the inquiry group, commented: 'Our analysis found only a few routes where there was scope for competitionbetween buses and trains. Even in those areas, we concluded that the profitincentive was very small for an operator of both bus and train services to shiftpassengers from bus to rail by raising fares or altering services.' The final report is published at: http://www.competition-commission.org.uk/inquiries/ref2005/western/index.htm. Notes for editors 1. The Enterprise Act 2002 empowers the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to refer to the CC completed or proposed mergers for investigation and report which create or enhance a 25 per cent share of supply in the UK (or a substantial part thereof) or where the UK turnover associated with the enterprise being acquired is over £70 million. 2. The acquisition of a rail franchise is treated as a merger under the Railways Act 1993. 3. FirstGroup's proposed acquisition of the GWF was referred to the CC by the OFT on 30 September 2005. The Department for Transport awarded the franchise to FirstGroup on 13 December 2005. 4. The GWF inquiry group consisted of five members: Diana Guy, (Group Chairman), Barbara Donoghue, Mahendra Raj, Anthony Stern and Richard Taylor. 5. Enquiries should be directed to Rory Taylor on 020 7271 0242 ([email protected]). This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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