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OFT to look again at merger

PN 164/03     5 December 2003

Following Wednesday's judgment of the Competition Appeal Tribunal in IBA v Office of Fair Trading, the OFT has today announced that it will look again at the proposed acquisition of Torex plc by iSOFT plc.

The OFT has today issued a new invitation to third parties to submit their comments on the merger. The Enterprise Act 2002 does not impose any strict timing obligations on the OFT in the event that cases are remitted to it to be decided afresh. However, in this case, the OFT intends to apply its normal administrative timetable of 40 working days to the new investigation. Accordingly, this administrative timetable will expire on 2 February 2004.

In relation to current and future cases (including all public mergers and applications for informal advice or confidential guidance), the OFT will apply the CAT's interpretation of the statutory test for reference to the Competition Commission as from today.

Informal advice or confidential guidance given to parties prior to the CAT's judgment was naturally based on the OFT's prior interpretation of the law (which had been set out in published guidance following consultation). In light of the CAT's interpretation of the statutory test for reference, it cannot be assumed that the same advice or guidance would necessarily be given by the OFT if those applications for advice or guidance were to be made now.

The OFT is giving careful consideration to the CAT judgment and is considering next steps.

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