Mergers Act 1965. The Act allowed the Monopolies Commission to investigate actual or
proposed mergers or acquisitions which looked likely to enhance monopoly power and
which involved at that time the takeover of assets in excess of £5 million. The aim of the
Act was to provide a means of regulating activities which threatened to be contrary to the
public interest, by permitting government to decide which mergers and acquisitions should
be prohibited and which should be allowed to proceed and, if necessary, under what terms.
Additional steps in this direction were taken with the passage of the Fair Trading Act 1973
and the Competition Act 1980, the main provisions of which are summarised below