The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has forced insurance giant Ardonagh to back-track on its acquisition of leading specialist motorcycle broker Bennetts.
Ardonagh Group, which also owns big-league bike insurers Carole Nash and Swinton, completed the purchase of Bennetts in August 2020. But a subsequent investigation by the CMA highlighted concerns that a merger of Ardonagh and Bennetts, which are the biggest distributors of motorcycle insurance in the UK, would result in a worse deal for customers.
In order to address these concerns, Ardonagh has now offered to sell Bennetts, effectively reversing the £26m takeover deal completely. The CMA has accepted that this solution should, in principle, be capable of remedying the competition issues it had identified and is considering detailed aspects. If it is accepted, Ardonagh would have a fixed period of time to sell Bennetts to a purchaser approved by the CMA.
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