“The CMA has found no competition concerns with the vast majority of the Wincanton business. Its focus is limited to a very small group of large and sophisticated companies, which will represent less than 10% of Wincanton revenue. This assessment is disproportionate for a business whose total revenue in 2024 exceeded £1.4bn and does not accurately reflect the totality of evidence presented.

“We disagree with the CMA’s initial assessment that GXO’s acquisition of Wincanton is likely to reduce competition in the supply of dedicated warehousing services to UK grocers. These companies have substantial pricing power, demonstrated ability to do this work themselves and the choice of a wide range of logistics players that are more than capable of servicing their needs.

“GXO and Wincanton are a pro-growth combination that will deliver efficiencies for UK businesses, reduce the overall cost to serve UK consumers and help make the logistics sector more effective and resilient. Further, there is no cost impact to UK customers or consumers from the transaction being approved in full.

“GXO has a long legacy of outstanding performance for customers in the UK and we believe the case for unconditional clearance is strong. We will present our response to the CMA at our upcoming hearing in March and continue to work towards full clearance of the transaction by the end of April.”