CMA clears Danone's anticipated acquisition of Huel and opens investigation into NRG Fleet Services' completed acquisition of Specialist Fleet Services
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has acted on two separate transactions in the same period, taking different procedural routes that illustrate the regulator's current approach to merger review. First, the CMA investigated and cleared the anticipated acquisition by Danone Holdings (UK) of Huel Limited, the UK-based functional nutrition brand. The clearance means Danone can proceed with completing the deal without conditions. Separately, the CMA has opened a merger inquiry into the completed acquisition by NRG Fleet Services of Specialist Fleet Services. The investigation is ongoing, meaning the two businesses cannot be integrated while the review proceeds. The CMA's willingness to review a completed deal signals that parties to fleet and logistics-sector transactions cannot assume post-completion safety from UK merger scrutiny. No deal values, advisers, or further terms were disclosed in the sources for either transaction.
Why this matters
The parallel handling of these two reviews, one anticipated and cleared, one completed and now under active investigation, illustrates the CMA's continued close attention to transactions in consumer goods and fleet services respectively. The Huel clearance is notable given Danone's scale in nutrition products and the CMA's historical appetite for consumer-facing food and drink mergers. The NRG/Specialist Fleet investigation demonstrates that completing a deal before seeking clearance does not insulate parties from UK merger control, and that the CMA will apply hold-separate obligations while it reviews.
On the Ground
Both reviews generate CMA merger control work: competition counsel will be advising on Phase 1 and potentially Phase 2 review risk, preparing submissions, and managing CMA information requests. In a completed-deal investigation such as NRG/Specialist Fleet, the immediate legal priority is compliance with any hold-separate order preventing integration while the inquiry runs. A trainee on a CMA merger file would assist with drafting the merger notice, preparing the CP (conditions precedent) checklist, indexing due diligence materials relevant to competition overlap, and tracking the statutory timetable for the review.
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