The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is investigating Home Retail Group’s £40 million acquisition of Focus DIY stores in a move that could force the retailer to dispose of some of the stores.
The sale of the stores, which were bought last year to accelerate the growth of the group’s Homebase chain, could be referred to the Competition Commission (CC) if it is deemed it has reduced competition in the markets.
This will come as a blow to Home Retail Group, which is already suffering from a slowdown in the housing market. It had hoped to have completed the expansion by Easter, with£30 million earmarked to refurbish the stores.
A spokesman for the OFT confirmed that they were looking at the deal and that, if competition problems in certain areas were considered severe, the case would be passed to the CC.
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