Better Merger Outcomes Due to Increased Scrutiny by Ireland’s NCA? the Q-Park/Tazbell Transaction

Gorecki, Paul (2025): Better Merger Outcomes Due to Increased Scrutiny by Ireland’s NCA? the Q-Park/Tazbell Transaction.

Abstract

Ireland’s national competition authority has recently increased scrutiny of mergers using Assessments (aka Statement of Objections). Despite using this approach, the authority’s 2023 determination of the proposed acquisition by Q-Park of Tazbell is fatally flawed. The authority had competition concerns in three local markets for the supply of off-street car parking spaces to the public. The transaction was cleared with remedies. The paper argues that there was no substantial lessening of competition. The remedies were inadequate. Why? Contributing factors include lack of coherence reflecting confirmation bias. Merger control can be improved by, inter alia: increasing the number of CCPC executive board members to reduce governance overload; and encouraging diverse internal views and peer review through the appointment of a chief economist. The paper forms part of a broader critical narrative of merger control in Ireland.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: mergers; structural remedies; substantial lessening of competition; critical loss analysis; and Competition Act 2002; car parking.
• Subjects: D - Microeconomics > D2 - Production and Organizations > D22 - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis; D - Microeconomics > D4 - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design > D43 - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection; K - Law and Economics > K2 - Regulation and Business Law > K21 - Antitrust Law; L - Industrial Organization > L4 - Antitrust Issues and Policies > L41 - Monopolization ; Horizontal Anticompetitive Practices; R - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics > R4 - Transportation Economics

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