On 14 July, the Competition Markets Authority (CMA) unconditionally cleared Copart’s acquisition of Hills’ Green Parts Specialist. The CMA referred the deal to Phase 2 on the basis of concerns in:
- salvage services where Copart was considered to have a share of 60-70%+,
- salvage vehicles where Copart was considered to have a share of 70%+, and
- input foreclosure of vehicles to competing downstream green parts suppliers where Copart was considered to have control over the main input.
CRA consultants were brought in at the start of Phase 2 and helped to show that the merging parties were not competitors in the supply of salvage services to insurers, not close substitutes in the supply of salvage vehicles and that despite Copart’s purported control of the upstream merchant market, there would be no competitive harm arising from possible input foreclosure.
The CMA cleared two of the three theories of harm following working papers at Provisional Findings and the final theory of harm in a revision to the Provisional Findings.
The CRA team listed below worked alongside Euclid Law in supporting Copart through the Phase 2 process.
