Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on June 5, 2025
1 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
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The UK's CMA has raised concerns about Spreadex's acquisition of Sporting Index, citing market control issues. Spreadex must respond by June 19.
(Reuters) -Britain's competition watchdog on Thursday raised concerns once again over Spreadex's acquisition of Sporting Index's consumer arm, saying the companies together control 100% of UK's licensed online sports spread-betting market.
The move comes after the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) on March 5 decided to reopen its probe into the completed acquisition after the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) overturned its previous decision.
Last year, the CMA had asked Spreadex to sell the business it bought from Sporting Index in 2023 as it believed a combined entity would harm competition.
But Spreadex appealed that order with the CAT, which upheld the appeal on March 4, prompting the regulator to re-examine the deal.
Spreadex did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.
The company has until June 19 to respond with possible remedies, the CMA said.
(Reporting by Raechel Thankam Job in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
The CMA raised concerns that the acquisition would harm competition as the companies would control 100% of the UK's licensed consumer arm.
The CMA reopened its investigation after the Competition Appeal Tribunal overturned its previous decision, allowing Spreadex to appeal the order to sell the business.
Spreadex has until June 19 to respond with possible remedies to address the CMA's concerns.
Spreadex did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment regarding the acquisition.
Last year, the CMA asked Spreadex to sell the business it acquired from Sporting Index, believing that the merger would negatively impact competition.
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