A monopolies watchdog with nothing to chew
What’s going on at the Competition Commission? Er, not much. If the sale of Friends Reunited hadn’t been referred there, the watchdog would have only one case on its books by the end of November 2009.
The dearth of deals has left the revamped Monopolies Commission with very little to do. And the same lack of activity can be seen at the Takeover Panel.
By November there have been only 25 statements from the Panel compared with an average of more than 40 in the previous four years – and 16 of those relate to administrative matters like rule changes and new staff. Indeed, only two of the Panel rulings relate to successful takeovers: many were adjudicating on aborted offers such as the abandoned National Express and Anglo American bids.
Like the Competition Commission, the Panel has more time to twiddle its thumbs and complete the crossword. During November the Commission will complete its investigations into Stagecoach’s Preston Bus merger and TicketMaster’s proposal for LiveNation – though the watchdog has already said it will block the latter. That leaves just one live case on its books – Sports Direct’s merger with JJB Sports.
If ITV’s £25m sale of Friends Reunited to the Beano’s publisher, DC Thomson, had not been referred by the Office of Fair Trading during the month, the commission could have taken an early Christmas.
The commission’s website lists a dozen inquiries as being “current” but some actually ended in 2007. Technically there are still appeals over the rulings on BAA’s airport break-up and ITV’s advertising contracts and but even Tesco’s argument over its groceries monopoly is finally settled.
Time to close the Competition Commission? No; something always turns up and shortly after the Preston Bus inquiry ends it would not be surprising if the OFT decided it was time the commission looked at the whole country’s bus services. That will keep the watchdog awake for a long while. And the Tories are threatening to make the commission investigate the banking industry: if that is more than playing to the electoral gallery, that should keep it busy too.
