Not really music news, but it involves a music company. The Competition Commission has given the go ahead for HMV to take over independent bookseller Ottakars. HMV intend to merge the book chain with its existing book selling business Waterstones.
Some in the independent book sector have criticised the proposed merger because, they say, it will give the high street book chain too great a competitive advantage, though HMV argue that the real competition to both Waterstones and the independents comes from the supermarkets and online retailers, and a combined Waterstones/Ottakars will be better able to take them on.
The chair of the CC group that investigated whether the merger proposals would violate any monopoly rules, Diana Guy, commented yesterday: "Throughout the country there is growing competition from supermarkets and internet retailers in terms of both price and range, so the merged company would have little ability to raise prices either on best-sellers or other titles".
HMV itself, of course, was the subject of takeover proposals recently after the company admitted it was struggling to compete with new supermarket and online retailers, especially in the music space. However the HMV board successfully managed to reject the takeover offers, which came from investment firm Permira.