MPs are preparing to intervene following a failed £5.5.bn takeover bid for supermarket chain Morrisons.
As investors brace for an anticipated feeding frenzy after Clayton Dubilier & Rice’s offer, the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee is preparing to write to the competition watchdog to seek assurances, according to The Daily Telegraph.
The Competition and Markets Authority would be expected to examine a takeover of such a large UK business.
Britain’s fourth largest supermarket, Wm Morrison, turned down the bid from the private equity powerhouse.
The offer priced the FTSE 250 company at 230p a share. The bid was blasted by top ten shareholder Legal & General, with fund manager Andrew Koch warning Clayton Dubilier & Rice “would not be adding any genuine value” to the supermarket chain.
However few in the City believe the New York fund will retreat from the shopping aisle any time soon. The private equity group now has until 17 July to make a firm offer for Morrisons.
