Motor Fuel Group (MFG) has been given the go ahead to complete its merger with MRH, with the condition it offloads nearly 40 sites.

The Competition and Markets Authority decision means the two companies can operate under the MFG name, but a number of sites will be sold to comply with the CMA’s competition concerns in a number of local areas. 

MFG’s chief executive officer, William Bannister, said: “This decision gives us the ‘green light’ to combine the two businesses and operate as one company under the MFG name.

“Our immediate objectives are to quickly put forward our plans for the combined business to all staff and to implement, for a number of MRH sites, the ‘Hold Separate’ requirements which will remain in place while we make the divestments necessary to remedy the CMA’s concerns in a number of local areas.

“52 MRH stations will be managed independently from the rest of the business during the ‘Hold Separate’ process and 15 of these stations together with 23 MFG stations will be sold in a timely manner to comply with the CMA’s requirements.”

He added that the combined company now had the opportunity to achieve its “long-stated” objective to be the UK’s most profitable independent forecourt operator.