Competition body wants to hear views on takeover
The Competition Commission (CC) has called on bookstore shoppers to send in their views on the proposed takeover of Ottakar's by HMV-owned Waterstone's.

In a statement today, CC inquiry group chair Diana Guy said: 'We've yet to reach any conclusions at this early stage of our inquiry - this statement identifies the questions and areas we'll be looking at. We are very keen to hear from any interested parties, particularly customers, because it can only help us in reaching our decision. We're pleased to have received a lot of submissions and evidence so far in this inquiry and we'd encourage other people to get in touch with us as soon as possible.'

The merger was referred to the CC by the Office of Fair Trading on December 6 last year. The Commission is required to publish its final report by May 22 but hopes to announce its provisional findings by the end of March.

If the CC considers that the proposed merger will result in a substantial lessening of competition, it will consider what remedies might be appropriate and issue a statement at a later date.

Final submissions to the inquiry are required by Tuesday February 7.

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