“During the COVID-19 outbreak, the CMA is working with businesses where it can to be flexible – for example, by recognising that there may be delays in providing the information it needs to conduct investigations,” it said at the time. “However, it is also trying to complete investigations efficiently at this time, wherever possible, to provide businesses with certainty. In this case, the CMA was able to publish its final decision 26 days ahead of the statutory deadline.”
That doesn’t mean, of course, that existing rivals will not make appeals to block or change the terms of the deal, nor that they may not themselves seek to start some M&A activity of their own in response.