The Office of Fair Trading passes GAME's intended take-over of fellow gaming retail chain Gamestation to the Competition Commission...

Three months ago we reported on the news that videogame retailer GAME was to purchase its biggest rival chain, Gamestation, for �74m/�108m, though the two chains would continue trading as separate entities. N-Europe received a massive amount of comments reacting negatively to this news, and it seems our readership weren't the only ones concerned by this acquisition.

The UK's Office of Fair Trading has been investigating the take-over ever since, and has today concluded that the deal needs to be referred to the Competitions Commission for further scrutiny:

An Office of Fair Trading spokesman said: "This merger involves the loss of competition between two parties who, in some segments at least, appear to be each other's closest competitors and in circumstances where we can not confidently rely on new companies entering the market to resolve any issues quickly. Without better evidence that competition from other suppliers will be sufficient to prevent the merged firm from raising prices or cutting back services in a way that would harm consumers - in a market where retail sales amount to around GBP 1.5 billion - we must refer to the CC for fuller inquiry."

The Competitions Commission won't be reporting back until January next year, though its good to know that GAME's deal is being given the fair scrutiny it needs.