Euclid Law welcomes the announcement by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) on 23 June 2023 that new evidence gathered by the CMA following its provisional findings has now led it to provisionally conclude that the deal would not lead to competition concerns. Euclid Law represented Copart Inc. and Hills Motors throughout the CMA process.
This is the first time the CMA has reversed the conclusions reached in its provisional findings to conclude that, after all, no competition concerns arise and the deal can be cleared unconditionally.
Marie Leppard, partner leading the Euclid Law team advising Copart, said:
“While we would have wished for the CMA to reach the conclusion that no competition concerns arise much earlier in its investigation, we are pleased that the UK merger control process ultimately has sufficient checks and balances to enable it to correct its course where necessary.”
Jane Pocock, CEO UK & Ireland, Copart Inc., said:
“I am grateful for the superb advice and support provided by Euclid Law throughout what has been a very long and challenging process. I look forward to confirmation of these provisional findings in the CMA’s final decision, allowing us to proceed with the merger that we announced almost one year ago. We thank our customers for their support throughout this process.”
To download a copy of the Press release, please click here.
Notes to editors
- Euclid Law is a boutique law firm that does nothing but competition law and direct foreign investment. Euclid Law has offices in London and Brussels.
- The Euclid Law team advising Copart Inc. was led by Marie Leppard and included Michael Reiss, Maxwell Curtis and Gavin Robert.
- A team led by Simon Chisholm at Charles River Associates International provided economic advice.
- Euclid Law also secured unconditional CMA Phase 2 clearance of London Stock Exchange Group’ PLCs acquisition of Quantile Group Limited on 26 October 2022.
- The CMA’s press release and Addendum to its Provisional Findings can be found on the CMA case page at https://www.gov.uk/cma-cases/copart-slash-hills-motors-merger-inquiry