19th Apr 2006 12:00
Office of Fair Trading19 April 2006 Merger Update: Undertakings given to the OFT by William Hill plc on 13 February 2006 pursuantto section 73 of the Enterprise Act 2002 ("the Act") in relation to thecompleted acquisition by William Hill plc of the licensed betting officebusiness of Stanley Leisure plc ("the Undertakings"). The OFT is considering(1) a request from William Hill plc to vary theUndertakings which were given to address competition concerns arising in respectof the supply of Licensed Betting Office (LBO) services in a number of localareas.(2) The OFT has been informed of new entry by competing LBO operators in two localareas where divestment had been required (Kidderminster and Doncaster). As aconsequence of this new entry, the reduction in the number of LBO fasciaresulting from the merger no longer appears to give rise to the competitionconcerns previously identified in these areas(3). The OFT therefore considers that, due to this change of circumstances, Annex 1to the Undertakings requiring divestment in the two local areas specified aboveis no longer appropriate and needs to be varied. The OFT therefore proposes to accept a variation to the Undertakings whichremoves the obligation on William Hill plc to divest one LBO in each ofKidderminster and Doncaster. However, before accepting a variation to the Undertakings, interested partiesare invited to give their views to the OFT. The proposed variation to theUndertakings can be found at www.oft.gov.uk Representations should be made in writing by 10 May 2006 to Elisabetta Rotondo,Mergers Branch, Office of Fair Trading, Fleetbank House, 2-6 Salisbury Square,London, EC4Y 8JX. Mergers Branch -------------------------- (1) The OFT has duties under sections 73 and 92 of the Act to consider whether to vary or release undertakings accepted under section 73 of the Act. (2) The decision accepting the Undertakings and a copy of the Undertakings can be found at www.oft.gov.uk The decision on reference in this case dated 1 August 2005 can be found at www.oft.gov.uk (3) As detailed in the OFT decision on reference dated 1 August 2005. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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