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UK: CMA clears ATM acquisition after inquiry

By  |  September 24, 2017

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has finalized its inquiry into the already completed acquisition of DirectCash Payments by Cardtronics.

Cardtronics is the world’s largest ATM owner and operator and completed its US$460 million acquisition of DirectCash Payments in January. The deal was not subject to review in any other region or country.

The CMA initiated the inquiry in January right after the deal was completed due to concerns that the acquisition would lead to higher surcharges and reduced competition, but in the report released on Friday, September 22, CMA Inquiry Chair Alasdair Smith said, “We’ve found that the merger does not provide the merged company with an incentive to increase surcharges for people using pay-to-use ATMs, not least because of the increasing use of non-cash payment methods and the decline in the use of pay-to-use ATMs relative to free-to-use ATMs.”

Full Content: Gov UK

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