Finance
UK competition watchdog to probe AB Foods' Hovis purchase
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on December 19, 2025
1 min readLast updated: January 20, 2026
Global Banking and Finance Review
Company
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on December 19, 2025
1 min readLast updated: January 20, 2026
The UK competition authority will investigate AB Foods' acquisition of Hovis, a move expected due to market share implications.
Dec 19 (Reuters) - Britain's competition regulator will investigate Associated British Foods' deal to buy bread brand Hovis from private equity firm Endless, it said on Friday.
AB Foods had announced in August an agreement to buy the 135-year-old Hovis, giving it another big UK bread brand on top of Kingsmill so it can better compete in a market that has seen a decline in demand for the packaged sliced loaf.
AB Foods' Allied Bakeries unit also owns the Sunblest and Allinson's brands.
A probe by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) had been expected because Hovis has about 18% of the sliced, packaged bread market, while Allied Bakeries has about 6%. Industry leader Warburtons has about 28%.
The CMA said it would decide by February 19 2026 whether to conduct a more in-depth "phase 2" probe.
(Reporting by Nithyashree R B in Bengaluru and James Davey in London; editing by William James)
Private equity refers to investment funds that acquire equity ownership in private companies or public companies that are taken private, often to restructure and improve their performance.
Market share is the percentage of an industry's sales that a particular company controls, indicating its competitiveness and presence in the market.
A bread brand refers to a specific label or name under which bread products are marketed and sold, often associated with quality and consumer preference.
A phase 2 probe is an in-depth investigation conducted by regulatory authorities to assess the potential impact of a merger or acquisition on competition in the market.
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