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Barratt takes ownership of Redrow shares
House builder Barratt has officially taken ownership of Redrow’s shares, as the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) continues to look into the merger.
In a stock market update, Barratt and Redrow said the merger had “become effective” following the delivery of a court order approving the agreement to the registrar of companies.
The last day for the registration and transfer of Redrow shares was 21 August. Redrow’s listing on the London Stock Exchange was cancelled from 8am on 23 August.
The two companies must “continue to operate independently” until the CMA has accepted proposals to address concerns around competition or agreed the merger.
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Shareholders approved Barratt’s proposed multibillion-pound merger with rival Redrow in May.
However, after the deal emerged, the CMA announced that it was looking into the acquisition over potential harm to the market, and launched a phase-one merger inquiry.
Earlier this month, the CMA revealed that the inquiry did not raise UK-wide competition issues, but it did have concerns that the merger could lead to a lack of competition in one area around a Barratt development in Whitchurch.
Barratt and Redrow had the opportunity to submit proposals addressing these concerns, to avoid the deal moving to an in-depth phase-two review.
On Monday, Barratt said it would waive clearance from the CMA and complete the £2.5bn deal this week.
The CMA said yesterday that it may not need to begin a phase-two investigation into the merger, as it considered there were “reasonable grounds for believing that the undertakings offered by the parties or a modified version of them” could be accepted.
It added that it will publish the full text of its decision soon.
The CMA has until 18 October to decide whether to accept the undertakings, with the possibility to extend the deadline to 13 December.
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