Housebuilders had been operating independently since August despite combining shares
The merger of Barratt and Redrow is set to be completed after the UK鈥檚 competition watchdog accepted undertakings offered by the housebuilders to avoid reducing competition.
After announcing the 拢2.5bn deal in February, Barratt officially took ownership of Redrow鈥檚 shares in August, with the smaller housebuilder removed from listing on financial markets.
However, the two were still required to operate independently of one another and under different names while the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) examined the undertakings proposed to address competition concerns that the regulator had previously raised.
Today, the CMA announced it had accepted the remedies proposed by the pair, clearing the way for their full merger.
After the clearance, Barratt announced its intention to complete the implementation of its integration plan within 18 months of August鈥檚 share combination.
David Thomas, chief executive of Barratt said: 鈥淭oday is a significant milestone for Barratt Redrow, as we come together as one organisation.
鈥淲ith this combination, we have created an exceptional housebuilder in terms of quality, service and sustainability, able to accelerate the delivery of the homes this country needs.
鈥淭ogether, we offer a broader range of homes and price points for our customers who we will continue to put at the heart of everything we do.
鈥淥ur focus now is on integrating our businesses as efficiently and effectively as we can to deliver the expected benefits of the Combination.
鈥淲e will leverage the best of both companies to deliver significant benefits to our people, our customers and our supply chain partners, and ensuring that Barratt Redrow is set up to deliver long term value to all of its stakeholders.鈥�
The firm also immediately registered a change of name, to Barratt Redrow PLC, with Companies House and London Stock Exchange, as well as changes to its board of directors.
With effect from today, Matthew Pratt will be group executive director, while Geeta Nanda and Nicky Dulieu both become non-executive directors.
The announcement by the CMA today comes roughly two weeks before the deadline it had set to make a decision on the merger.
It had raised concern that the deal might disadvantage homebuyers in an area around Whitchurch, Shropshire, and Nantwich, Cheshire, if a resulting loss of competition leads to higher house prices or lower quality homes.
The 11-mile area contains four Barratt developments and a Redrow development. Barratt and Redrow set our proposals to remedy the CMA鈥檚 concerns in an attempt to avoid a full-blown 鈥榩hase 2鈥� investigation.
Undertakings offered by the pair included a commitment to appoint an independent third-party agent, which they proposed would be Savills, to manage the sale of unsold houses at Redrow鈥檚 developments in Kingsbourne, Nantwich.
They also committed to ensuring unbuilt houses and infrastructure would be 鈥渃onstructed to Redrow鈥檚 quality standards鈥�, completed in a timely manner, and that buyers would receive an after-sales service 鈥渢o a level meeting or exceeding Redrow鈥檚 pre-merger standards.
The CMA determined that the proposed undertakings would resolve the issue and would be more practical than divestiture because of the varied stage of completion at Kingsbourne and the limited pool of potential purchasers.
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