Peter Cowgill, executive chairman of JD Sports Fashion, was reported by The Sunday Times as being under investigation by the Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) over a possible breach of its rules on sharing sensitive information relating to JD’s contested takeover of the smaller Footasylum chain in the U.K. The Times showed a video, taken by an unnamed third party, of a meeting that took place in a car park between Cowgill and Barry Bown, CEO of Footasylum and former CEO of JD until June 2014, on the morning of July 5. As previously reported, the CMA confirmed on Nov. 4 its decision to block JD’s takeover of Footasylum, signed in May 2019. JD immediately responded to the weekend report, noting that the two had known each other “on a business and personal basis for over 25 years,” and thus “it is not unusual, or in any way suspicious or illegitimate for them to meet from time to time, including in relation to the ongoing review” by the CMA. JD criticized The Times for omitting the fact that JD was obliged to take all reasonable steps to encourage Bown and other key staff to remain at Footasylum. It added that JD could not be accused of any wrongdoing because the CMA had been informed about the contents of the meeting and the reasons for it. It criticized The Times for not reporting in a more balanced way on “the highly irregular and potentially illegal covert surveillance undertaken by a third party for their own interests,” asking for a regulator to “more critically regard the actions of the third party for what they are.” According to The Times; JD reported a belief by JD that the video was “filmed by a competitor keen to see JD’s £90 million takeover of its smaller rival blocked.”

Topics