Zipcar Inc, the US car-sharing company that rents vehicles by the hour, won approval for its acquisition of London-based Streetcar Ltd. following a probe by a UK antitrust regulator.
The deal isn’t a threat to competition because other companies are likely to enter the market, the Competition Commission in London said today in a statement. The watchdog started investigating in August after another regulator, the Office of Fair Trading, said the takeover could reduce competition in the industry and drive up prices.
The investigation started two months after Zipcar, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, said it would seek to raise as much as $75 million through an initial public offering. The company, which entered the UK market in 2007, was the second-biggest car-sharing company in London when it bought its larger rival.
“Industry estimates have car club membership numbers increasing eightfold over the next decade so this is a fast- growing and therefore potentially attractive market for new and expanding providers, particularly in London,” said Peter Davis, chairman of the commission group investigating the case.