This week, the CMA issued its provisional findings in relation to the completed acquisition by Constellation of Aston Barclay ( CAB ), which indicate it is minded to clear the CAB merger. In the CMA’s view, absent the CAB merger, Aston Barclay – having experienced some financial challenges – would likely have exited the market. The CMA accepts that some of Aston Barclay’s assets might otherwise have been sold to alternative purchaser(s); it also notes one scenario involving the sale of two sites to a third party competitor, which in its view might have represented a better competitive outcome than the CAB merger. That said, the CMA does not currently consider that this – arguably more desirable outcome (from the CMA’s perspective) – would be any more likely to arise than any of the other alternatives where the assets would be broken up into smaller elements, which in the CMA’s view would not really improve competition beyond the CAB merger for users. Put simply, based on any plausible scenario, the CMA considers that the constraint on Constellation’s BCA operations presented by Aston Barclay would most likely be lost anyway, with or without the CAB merger, and noting that the only alternative possibly delivering a better competitive outcome was no more likely to happen than any other. In the CMA’s view, this would result in no improvement to competition, at least in terms of putting other auction houses in a better position to service the needs of national customers (vendors/buyers etc.). For information, the CMA’s provisional findings are not yet final and it is inviting interested parties to make representations on its interim report (with any confidentiality requests) over the next three weeks and by no later than 5pm on Thursday, 12 February 2026 , with responses to be sent to constellation.astonbarclay@cma.gov.uk . Please contact the NFDA if you have any questions.