Nov 14 (Reuters) - Britain's competition regulator said

on Thursday it referred GXO Logistics' ( GXO ) acquisition of UK

peer Wincanton to an in-depth investigation after the U.S.-based

warehousing firm did not present remedies for competition

concerns.

CONTEXT

GXO outbid CEVA, a unit of French shipping firm CMA CGM, to

buy the British logistics firm for 762 million pounds ($962.3

million) in March to expand into the UK's aerospace, utilities,

industrial, and healthcare sectors.

Wincanton operates in the UK and Ireland and offers supply

chain solutions to businesses across sectors. It counts IKEA,

Primark, and BAE Systems among its customers.

GXO operates in almost 30 countries from about 970 warehouse

locations and has a large exposure to the aerospace and defence

sectors in the U.S.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) on Nov. 1 said the

acquisition could reduce competition and raise prices for

customers.

The CMA, which launched its investigation in early

September, added that both companies compete closely,

particularly for contracts with large retail customers.

An independent panel of experts from the regulator will now

engage further with the companies to identify remedial measures

that can satisfy its competition concerns.

The CMA can block the transaction if the steps taken by the

firms are found unsatisfactory. The regulator has set April 30

as the statutory deadline for the probe.

(Reporting by Prerna Bedi and Aby Jose Koilparambil in

Bengaluru; Editing by Abinaya Vijayaraghavan)