Sir Jim takes aim at competition regulator as ‘hostile to business’ after deal nixed

JACK MENDEL

INEOS chair Sir Jim Ratcliffe has lashed out at Britain’s competition watchdog for being “increasingly hostile” to business – after it blocked a near £800m deal involving his firm.

The business titan, who founded the private chemicals giant, made his comments after the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) prevented INEOS’s acquisition of Sika, a concrete additives business.

The CMA has increasingly come in for criticism for blocking both Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard and Adobe’s bid to buy Figma.

Last month, there was speculation the CMA would look into Vodafone and Three’s major tie up, while it blocked a series of deals, including for a hearing aid giant.

INEOS agreed to buy the firm in January, and the pair jointly submitted the deal to the

CMA in March, receiving a negative response just nine days later.

Ratcliffe said the CMA was “building a reputation as an overly aggressive regulator with little regard for the impact of its decisions on UK business.”

He claimed “the CMA and UK government are becoming increasingly hostile to business”.

A CMA spokesperson told City A.M. that “effective merger control is pro-business and pro-growth” and said the INEOS deal raised competition concerns.