News story: CMA considers undertakings in Autodata/Solera merger

The companies supply vehicle repair and maintenance information (RMI) platforms across the UK, which give access to digital data and are mainly used by workshops and other repairers to diagnose, service and repair vehicles.

On 26 January 2017, Solera Holdings Inc. acquired the ultimate holding company of Autodata Publishing Group Limited.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) subsequently conducted an investigation into this acquisition and found competition concerns, should the merger be allowed to proceed.

This was due to the fact the companies are the 2 main suppliers of these platforms in the UK and compete closely with each other. Other suppliers face significant barriers to entry and expansion in the UK.

Solera has since offered to overcome these concerns by selling its RMI platform in the UK, E3 Technical (which is part of CarweB), to a buyer approved in advance by the CMA. It has also offered to provide transitional support to the buyer of the divested business.

The CMA considers there are reasonable grounds for believing the undertakings offered, or a modified version of them, might be acceptable, and will open a public consultation on the undertakings in due course.

The CMA has until 27 July to consider whether to accept the undertakings, or a modified version of them, with the possibility of extending this deadline to 22 September 2017 if there are special reasons for doing so.

All information relating to the investigation is available on the case page.