Toronto-based Dye & Durham Limited, a provider of cloud-based software for legal and business professionals which has operations in Canada, the U.K., Ireland and Australia, has released a statement in response to the United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) final report following its review of Dye & Durham’s acquisition of TM Group (UK) Limited (TMG).
The CMA found that Dye & Durham’s acquisition of TMG would lessen competition in the supply of property search report bundles in England and Wales. It also stated that the only effective way to address the issues it has identified would be for Dye & Durham to sell the entirety of TMG to a third party.
The company disagrees with the CMA’s decision and said it believes that the acquisition of TMG, which occurred in July of last year, would be beneficial for the search report market and its customers.
It is reviewing the Final Report in detail, and plans to consider its options and next steps, including potentially appealing the decision.
In considering those options, the company said it will will take the following factors into account: The minimal revenue and EBITDA generated by TMG compared to its global businesses, a review of the detailed reasons published by the CMA, advice it receives from financial and legal advisors, and its other priorities, such as the focus on closing its acquisition of Australia’s Link Administration Holdings Limited (LINK), which the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has now referred to a more extensive and comprehensive Phase II review.
In press release this week following the CMA’s announcement, TMG said, “Whilst not an outcome we agree with or would have wished for, TM group respects the decision made and will continue to fully cooperate with the CMA as we work with both them and Dye & Durham to identify a long-term investor that matches our own ambitions to continue to deliver the very best solutions in the market.”