Tag Archives: Merger of Dixons and Carphone Warehouse

Dixons and Carphone Warehouse Deal – under scrutiny

Tech News,

This sort of merger does worry me. Once there is no competition, pricing is fixed.

Via Reuters.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European Union antitrust regulators are asking British retailers whether the 3.8-billion-pound ($6.40 billion) merger of mobile phone retailer Carphone Warehouse and Dixons Retail will push up the prices of mobile phones and tablets.

Carphone, Europe’s largest independent mobile phone retailer, and Europe’s No. 2 electrical products group, hope the merger will help them capitalize on the growing popularity of smartphones connected to consumer electronics such as ovens and fridges.

The European Commission is now examining the deal and is scheduled to decide by June 25 whether to clear it, demand concessions or open a lengthy investigation.

Since the merger will take out a major player the new company could potentially exploit its bigger market share to raise the price of mobile devices.

The review focuses on the British mobile phones and tablets market, according to a questionnaire sent to retailers earlier this week and seen by Reuters.

Say hello to “Dixons Carphone”

Tech News,

BBC News reported that Dixons and Carphone Warehouse would merge.

“Dixons Retail, the owner of Currys and PC World, and mobile phone retailer Carphone Warehouse have announced they are to merge in a deal worth £3.8bn.The new firm will be known as Dixons Carphone, with ownership to be split equally between the two firms’ existing shareholders.Dixons operates more than 500 Currys and PC World stores in the UK and Ireland. Carphone Warehouse operates more than 2,000 stores across Europe”

Then the news about cost savings and then job creation.

“The merger will save the companies £80m a year from the 2017-18 fiscal year onwards, Dixons said.”

“For its part, Carphone Warehouse said “significant job creation” was expected as part of the deal, “resulting in an increase of approximately 4%””

However, some existing staff will be affected. Dixons said there would be job cuts of 2% of the merged company, “as a result of the rationalisation of certain operational and support functions”.

What would be great is if this new company could create an Apple and John Lewis like shopping experience.