A projected merger between two of Europe’s largest tenpin bowling operations may have hit a problem with the monopolies authorities.
The Original Bowling Company is planning a £30m takeover of Bowlplex, two big UK operations, but the country’s Competition and Markets Authority has ruled that the takeover “may result in a substantial lessening of competition.”
The authority’s worries are principally on the locations of Bracknell, Bristol, Dudley and Leeds in England, Glasgow in Scotland and Cardiff in Wales, where the two companies “compete closely.”
The authority said that there could be insufficient competition from alternative tenpin bowling locations to replace those lost by the takeover. It offered The Original Bowling Company five days to provide “a clear-cut remedy” to the situation.
Electra Partners, a private equity company, owns The Original Bowling Company which has 44 centres, mostly under the Hollywood Bowl brand, while Bowlplex has 17 centres.
