LONDON (CelebrityAccess) — A month after Live Nation announced that they had taken a majority stake in John Giddings' Isle of Wight festival, a UK government watchdog group is evaluating the deal.
According to Sky News, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it was weighing launching an investigation into whether the acquisition would lead to a "substantial lessening of competition".
The CMA has not officially opened a probe, or even set a date for advisory submissions related to the proposed deal, but has asked the two companies to continue to operate separately until they approve the merger.
The Isle of Wight, revived in 2002, is one of the UK's best-known festivals. The festival's announced acquisition by Live Nation marks a period of expansion for the Live Nation and is the sixth major acquisition worldwide for the company in 2017. – Staff Writers