| Synopsis: |
On 28 May 2009, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), in exercise of its duty under section 22(1) of the Enterprise Act 2002 (the Act), referred to the Competition Commission (CC), for investigation and report, the completed acquisition of Preston Bus Limited (PBL) by Stagecoach Group PLC (Stagecoach). This document, together with the appendices, constitutes the CC's final report. The investigation considers whether the merger has resulted in a substantial lessening of competition in the market for the provision of commercial bus services within the Preston area. The key content includes: background to the provision of local bus services in the Preston area; events that led up to the merger situation; counterfactual; market definition; assessment of the competitive effects of the merger; conclusion; and, remedies. |