The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has cleared the anticipated acquisition of Empiric Student Property Plc by Unite Group Plc, a major transaction in the purpose-built student accommodation sector. According to the Authority, the full text of its decision will be published shortly.
The clearance follows the CMA’s earlier procedural notice of 23 October 2025, issued pursuant to section 96(2A) of the Enterprise Act 2002. In that notice, the CMA confirmed that the merger notice submitted jointly by Unite and Empiric met the statutory requirements set out in section 96(2) of the Act.
As a result of this confirmation, the “initial period” defined under section 34ZA(3) commenced on 24 October 2025, the first working day following the publication of the notice. The CMA indicated that the deadline for determining whether the transaction should be referred for an in-depth Phase 2 investigation was 19 December 2025.
With today’s announcement, the CMA has concluded that the merger does not warrant a Phase 2 inquiry, thereby allowing Unite Group’s acquisition of Empiric Student Property to proceed.
The forthcoming publication of the CMA’s full decision is expected to provide further detail regarding the Authority’s assessment and the reasoning underlying its clearance.