OREANDA-NEWS. Last month, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said that it would refer this merger for an in-depth investigation unless Fenland Laundries Limited (Fenland) offered acceptable undertakings to address the CMA’s competition concerns. The concerns relate to the supply of laundry services to the higher cleanroom laundry standard (full cleanroom) in Great Britain.

Fenland offered undertakings on 23 December 2015 to address the CMA’s competition concerns in lieu of a reference. After careful consideration, the CMA was not confident that these would resolve the concerns in a clear-cut manner (see note) and has therefore decided to refer the merger for an in-depth phase 2 investigation.

A decision on the merger at phase 2 will be made by a group of independent panel members supported by a case team of CMA staff. The deadline for the final report will be 19 June 2016.