Britain’s competiton authority has cleared J Sainsbury’s takeover of Argos owner Home Retail, opening the way for the creation of a company with the scale to rival John Lewis. The boards of the two retailers welcomed the Competition and Markets Authority’s decision not refer to the merger to an in-depth “Phase 2” investigation. “This is an important step in the deal process,” they said in a statement. “The combination of both businesses will create a multi-product, multi-channel proposition with fast delivery networks, giving customers what they want, whenever and wherever they want it.”The clearance is one the last hurdles…

Source: The Times July 22, 2016 08:00 UTC