Topps Tiles Faces CMA Review Over CTD Acquisition

Topps Tiles purchased CTD Tiles from administration in August of the previous year, acquiring 30 stores along with supporting infrastructure and intellectual property rights. Following a Phase 1 investigation, the UK's regulatory body, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), reported potential competition concerns in the retail tile market in four regions: Dorking, Edinburgh, Inverness, and Aberdeen. The CMA noted both companies as significant competitors to retail and business customers. Despite identifying no competition issues in most locations, the CMA highlighted potential customer disadvantage in those four areas. Joel Bamford, Executive Director for Mergers at the CMA, indicated that Topps Tiles could propose remedies to address the concerns. The deadline for this is February 24. Topps Tiles expressed satisfaction with the CMA's findings of no competition worries in most regions and committed to cooperating with the authority. The company's share price increased following the announcement.