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The Competition and Markets Authority has warned deal could “substantially” lessen competition in the sector

The Co-operative Group’s proposed takeover of rival Southern Co-op could be heading for a full-scale inquiry after the UK’s competition watchdog raised concerns over the deal.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has warned that the agreement between the two mutuals, first announced in April, could “substantially” reduce competition within the sector.

The regulator has given the firms until September 22 to put forward remedies to address any potential competition concerns.

Should the proposals prove unacceptable, the planned acquisition will be referred for a so-called phase two investigation.

The CMA said: “The CMA has decided, on the evidence currently available to it, that it is or may be the case that this merger has resulted or may be expected to result in a substantial lessening of competition within a market or markets in the United Kingdom.

“This merger will be referred for an in-depth, phase two investigation unless the parties offer an acceptable undertaking to address these competition concerns.”

The Co-op’s move would bring Southern Co-op’s 330,000 members into its existing base of seven million, along with approximately 300 food, funeral and Starbucks coffeehouse sites.

The two firms, which have not disclosed the financial terms of the deal, are continuing to operate independently while the CMA’s investigation proceeds. They had previously hoped to finalise the merger towards the end of the year, following approval by members in May.

A Co-op Group spokesperson stated that the CMA’s concerns centred on a “small number” of locations where stores operated by both brands were in close proximity to one another.

The spokesperson said: “We are pleased that, as anticipated, the CMA hasn’t identified competition concerns at a national level.

“It has identified a small number of locations where there is both a Southern and Co-op Group presence and where they believe there may be an adverse impact on competition for consumers.

“We will continue to engage and work with the CMA on the proposed remedies.

“There are no changes for colleagues, members or customers at this stage.”

FORT MONMOUTH, NJ — MGT Foods, a manufacturer, co-packer and distributor for the consumer packaged goods, foodservice and pet food industries, has completed its 38,000-square-foot addition at its Fort Monmouth facility.

The company said the expansion will support its recently launched brand Biti Bites and the brand’s flagship product, Biteables.

Launched in 2025, Biteables are bite-

sized snacks featuring creamy ice cream wrapped in cookie dough.

Varieties include chocolate chip cookie dough, strawberry shortcake, double chocolate chip and cookies and cream.

“Biteables have clean ingredients: real dark chocolate chips from Italy, real cane sugar, real strawberries, real ice cream made from real milk from Pennsylvania cows treated properly — and we make them all right here in New Jersey,” said Michael Emanuele, managing partner of MGT Foods. “It wasn’t easy, but we’re really proud of what we’ve created with Biteables. And now with our facility expansion, we are in a great place to meet demand.”

MGT Foods also owns brands including The Bear & The Rat, a manufacturer of frozen yogurts and treats for dogs; Mr. Green Tea, a manufacturer of Japanese-inspired ice cream; and Mr. Mochi, a manufacturer of bite-sized desserts made with ice cream wrapped in a sweet rice dough.

Nancy Hipp
Morgan Stanley, Research Division

Next we have Werner Enterprise and very happy to have with us President and CFO, Chris Wikoff, President and CLO Nathan Meisgeier and [indiscernible] Gentlemen, thanks so much for joining us. Obviously, the cycle has taken precedence in [indiscernible] So start off by giving us a how [Audio Gap]– where are we right now?

Christopher Wikoff
Executive VP, Treasurer & CFO

[Audio Gap] Over indexing on more recent spot rates being a little bit softer, debate on is that seasonal or is that sub seasonal. It’s a data point. But when we’re talking about rate, we’re really talking about overall blended rate, contractual rates that continue to be high single digits, low double digits in terms of contract renewals.

So all of that is positive. It’s more supply driven. We think that’s going to continue. Enforcement has been multipronged. It’s also maturing. So not to deep dive into that right now. But while it’s supply driven, the freight flows continue to be positive, steady.

We’re seeing higher bid volume and some record highs on bid volume in Dedicated, some continued elevated mini bids in one way as I think shippers are transitioning from spot and evaluating the market and transitioning to more to contract and some of that in-between space. So overall, I think it’s positive. Not much to point to in terms of demand outside some of the tech and data center build-out. But overall, I think the fundamentals are strong

‘Non-core’ sale part of group’s transformation strategy and follows Sheffield warehouse sale

Boohoo owner Debenhams Group has sold its “non-core” Nasty Gal brand for $16m (£12m) as it continues with its transformation strategy.

Manchester-based Debenhams has offloaded the Nasty Gal brand and the global intellectual property rights to New York’s White Space Group New York, LLC, operating as WSG Brands. In the last financial year, Nasty Gal generated gross merchandise value of £12m and saw an adjusted EBITDA of £0.4m.

Debenhams said of Nasty Gal: “It is non-core and not material to the group”. And it added: “The transaction aligns with our strategy of transitioning to a marketplace-led business model that is capital-lite.”

Group CEO Dan Finley said: “Our turnaround continues at pace. The disposal of this non-core asset aligns with our strategy and further strengthens the balance sheet following the £90m sale of our Sheffield Distribution Centre.”

The group announced last week that it was selling the South Yorkshire building to Primark owner Associated British Foods. After that deal was revealed, ABF announced the warehouse would support a new Primark strategy to start offering home delivery for the first time.

ABF’s chief executive George Weston said: “Primark has made significant progress in building its digital capabilities and will continue this through both growing click & collect and by offering home delivery in Great Britain in the future.

“There is now an opportunity for incremental and profitable growth through this channel.”

Dan Coatsworth, head of markets for AJ Bell, said Primark offering home delivery was the “biggest UK retail news of the year”.

“Having full online transactional capabilities is something the company has always shied away from,” he said.

“It has always argued that low price-point items are uneconomical to send, particularly if someone is only ordering a pair of socks or a T-shirt costing a pound or two.

“It stubbornly retained this view for longer than anyone expected, before easing back by launching a click and collect service.

“We’re now primed for the full home delivery experience. While physical stores remain relevant, online shopping is well established and Primark clearly had no choice but to adapt to the modern retail world.”

Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband has said the memory of his late mother, a Jewish refugee who died at the end of May, shaped his decision to speak out more forcefully on the treatment of Palestinians, in an interview with The Rest Is Politics podcast.

Miliband told presenters Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart that he had wrestled with the language he should use and how far he should go, particularly over the terms “ethnic cleansing” and “war crimes”.

He said his mother had lost her father and 60 relatives in the concentration camps, and had spent 20 years of her life focused on the situation of the Palestinians.

“I thought a lot about, as I wrestled with this statement and what I should say and what I shouldn’t say and how far I should go, I wrestled a lot with what she would say. And she’d say: look at what is happening to Palestinians. Look at what is happening to these poor people. It’s wrong, and you’ve got to call it out,” he said.

Sanctions and Gaza

Miliband defended the Government’s new sanctions targeting settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank. According to a House of Commons Library briefing, the measures announced this month include an import ban on goods from illegal settlements, restrictions on services supporting settlement expansion and a ban on settlement advertising in the UK. The briefing says the Government planned to implement the new trade legislation within six to nine months, and that France and Canada announced similar measures.

Asked whether the sanctions would work, Miliband said: “And will it definitely succeed? I can’t say it’ll definitely succeed. Does it have a chance of succeeding, particularly with other international partners acting? Maybe it does. And that’s the whole intention behind it.”

He said people “the world over” were “deeply disturbed by what is happening in the West Bank and Gaza”, adding: “I think the Israeli government is losing friends. I mean, it’s not gaining allies; it’s lost allies. It’s losing allies all over.”

On Gaza, Miliband described the humanitarian situation as “unspeakable and appalling”. He said restrictions on so-called dual-use goods meant “very, very innocent goods” were being stopped from entering, and that “it seems like absolutely a deliberate strategy”.

He said Israeli ministers “have made comments that would be suggestive of wanting to not just kill Hamas terrorists, but at least push out and displace all residents of Gaza”.

“All of us condemn in the strongest terms the murder that Hamas did on October the 7th, but nothing can justify what has unfolded in Gaza since then,” he said, adding that 1,200 Palestinians had been killed since what he called “the so-called ceasefire”.

Miliband said Gaza had “mobilised a whole generation of people, but those people were right, not wrong”. He said a number of people, including from the Global South, had contacted him since he made the statement.

US relations and Hormuz

Pressed by Campbell and Stewart on how the UK should respond to a changing relationship with the United States, Miliband said: “Our alliance with the US matters, but if what you’re saying is we need to recognise the world has changed, particularly regarding our relationship with Europe and the importance of our relationship with the European Union, but also working with middle-sized powers beyond that, a hundred percent, and that’s what we’re gonna do.”

Miliband said his immediate diplomatic focus was reopening the Strait of Hormuz, whose closure had stranded $125bn of ships and cargo by June, according to insurer Allianz.

“My job as Foreign Secretary is to help the British people with the terrible cost-of-living crisis they face. And one of the biggest contributors to that is the fact that the Strait is closed,” he said.

“So my job is not to say what should have happened at the beginning. My job is to say: okay, what can we do now to get out of the mess we’re in? And that is absolutely what my diplomatic focus is on.”

Watch or listen to The Rest Is Politics wherever you get your podcasts.

About the author

Jamie Young

Jamie Young is Senior Reporter at Business Matters, covering SME finance, employment law and Westminster policy since 2016. He has reported on every Budget and Autumn Statement since 2018, helped make sense of the ‘covid era’ and the bounce-back loan scheme from launch through the fraud investigations, and broke the magazine’s coverage of the 2024 late-payment reforms. He joined Business Matters straight from completing his BA in Administration from Exeter University and is NCTJ-qualified. Reach him at jyoung@cbmeg.co.uk

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