Spotlight on john Menzies over competition concerns

John Menzies will this week be expected to outline how it intends to deal with concerns voiced by competition watchdogs over its acquisition of an airport services firm.

The CMA has raised concerns over the planned takeover of Airline Services by John Menzies.

The Competition and Markets Authority last week said the planned takeover of Manchester-based Airline Services by Menzies – which is due to report first-half results on Tuesday – could lead to less choice and potentially higher costs for de-icing and ground handling services at airports including Glasgow and Edinburgh.

The Edinburgh-headquartered group will face an in-depth probe unless it offers acceptable ways of addressing the CMA’s concerns.

The deal, which sees Menzies move into four new airports, is part of its bid to be a “pure-play” aviation business after recently agreeing to sell its print media arm Menzies Distribution to funds managed by private equity investor Endless.