CMA clears Severn Trent acquisition of Dee Valley

The Competition and Markets Authority has cleared Severn Trent’s acquisition of Dee Valley Group.

The regulator said on Friday that it has decided not to refer the acquisition to a phase 2 investigation.

Liv Garfield, chief executive officer of Severn Trent, said: "I am obviously delighted that today's unequivocal announcement by the CMA confirms that the Severn Trent offer for Dee Valley can proceed without further regulatory investigation or approval. For all the reasons we have previously set out we absolutely believe Severn Trent will be the best supportive owner of Dee Valley."

The company also noted Ancala's announcement that it has extended the closing date of its offer of 1,706p, which is final and will not be increased, for a further 14 days as it failed to achieve the requisite level of acceptances on Thursday.

Severn Trent has offered 1,825p per Dee Valley ordinary share and a comparable cash price of 1,713p for each non-voting share.

Dee Valley’s board has recommended the Severn Trent offer, but it was Dee Valley's employees who referred the offer to the CMA requesting that an investigation be carried out.

At 0955 GMT, the shares were down 0.2% to 2,179p.