Find out how new Shropshire homes have held up huge multi-million merger of builders Barratt and Redrow
Housebuilder Barratt’s £2.5 billion purchase of Redrow has been given the green light – despite concerns about a development in the heart of Shropshire.
The Competition and Markets Authority raised concerns the deal could lead to higher prices and lower quality homes in one area – in and around Whitchurch – where Redrow has a plot with planning consent for 324 homes.
Its concerns are over land ripe for development over the roughly 11-mile area, which as well as Whitchurch also includes land around nearby towns Ellesmere, Market Drayton and Nantwich.
Despite the CMA raising concerns, Barratt had pushed on with the deal anyway. It said in August that it would waive conditions put on the deal by the regulator and took ownership of Redrow’s shares.
The companies have so far been made to continue operating independently until competition questions were settled. They put forward measures including appointing Savills as a third party to sell the houses. The homes wil be “constructed to Redrow’s quality standards and completed in a timely manner”.
Joel Bamford, executive director for mergers at the CMA, wrotethat measures put forward by the companies represented “as comprehensive a solution as is reasonable and practicable”.
He added that they “remedy, mitigate or prevent the SLC (significant lessening of competition) identified... and any adverse effects resulting from it”.
The two firms are expecting to have fully merged within 18 months of the acquisition, with efficiencies and cost savings due to take shape after three years.
The tie-up is expected to lead to cost savings of at least £90 million a year, with a one-off cost of making these savings of about £73 million.
This is expected to partly be achieved by a restructuring of staff and offices as they cut overlapping roles, which could lead to the loss of about 10 per cent of jobs across the combined business.
Barratt chief executive David Thomas said: “With 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.
“Together, 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.
“Our focus now is on integrating our businesses as efficiently and effectively as we can to deliver the expected benefits of the Combination.
“We 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.”