OFT triggers competition probe for Sports Direct’s JJB stores
Sports Direct is facing an investigation by into its purchase of 31 stores from rival JJB Sports after failing to find a buyer for five shops it had been asked to sell by the OFT.
The OFT said Sports Direct had not been successful in selling the five outlets and had made no “significant progress” in doing so. It rejected Sports Direct’s request for additional time and said that an extension would not make any difference.
Amelia Fletcher, OFT Senior Director of Mergers, said: ‘We insisted on an upfront buyer provision in this case because we were uncertain that there were suitable buyers for the stores Sports Direct offered to divest. Its failure to make any real progress towards a sale in three months demonstrates that our caution in requiring an upfront buyer was justified,”
