§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make it his policy to seek to limit the present spate of opposed takeover bids: and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. HowardMy right hon. Friend has powers under the Fair Trading Act 1973 to act to prevent a merger only if it is referred to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission and the Commission concludes that it would operate against the public interest. Our policy is to make references to the Commission primarily on competition grounds, although this does not rule out making references on other public interest grounds where appropriate. The fact that a merger is contested does not necessarily mean that it raises competition or other public interest issues which justify investigation by the Commission.