American Express GBT says it is evaluating its next steps in the proposed merger with CWT as the Competition and Markets Authority in the UK has announced a six-week extension of its inquiry into the $570 million deal. This following the decision last week by the US Department of Justice to file a civil antitrust lawsuit to stop the acquisition.

The CMA’s report was originally to have been delivered Jan. 26, but has been delayed until March 9, following the TMC’s submission of an independent survey the company commissioned which is said were “more comprehensive and robust than the CMA’s.” 

The regulators extended the deadline for the review to allow “understanding and evaluating these submissions.” The CMA said in a statement that the survey results were not disclosed prior to the release of its Nov. 6 interim report, in which it found the proposed deal “could lead to reduced choice and quality, and higher prices for the customers.”

In large part, the UK regulator’s statement mirrored the language in the US Department of Justice suit seeking to block the merger. In the complaint, the DOJ argued that the deal – which follows Amex GBT’s acquisition of four other TMCs since 2018 – would “extinguish fierce head-to-head competition between Amex GBT and CWT and risk higher prices, fewer choices, and less innovation.”

In response, Amex GBT said the DOJ action took a “backward-looking” view of the market and relied on “factually inaccurate statements.” According to the company, the Justice Department suit ignores significant changes in the marketplace since the pandemic, calling the focus on only the largest US-based customers “unwarranted and unsupported by legal precedent.”

It also questioned the timing of the Justice Department move, which came 10 days before the end of the Biden administration, while the two companies had informed the DOJ that the transaction was not set to be concluded until March.

“We are evaluating our next step,” Amex said.