CIMA F3 Exam With Confidence Using Practice Dumps

Competition authorities focus primarily on market structure and competition, not on whether the bid is generous or on employment promises. Their concern is: Will this merger substantially lessen competition?

In food retailing, a key issue is local market concentration – for example, a single group owning too many supermarkets in particular towns or regions. A classic remedy is for the bidder to divest overlapping outlets so that effective competition remains.

B. Agreeing to dispose of specified outlets which overlap geographically directly addresses the competition authority’s main concern and is the standard structural remedy used in practice.

A (more cash) is irrelevant to competition issues.

C (job guarantees) is mainly a political/employment concern, not an antitrust one.

D (promise to pass on cost savings) is difficult to monitor and enforce and is normally viewed as less credible than structural remedies.

So the action most likely to persuade the competition authorities is B.

A – “X may be able to sell the receipts forward.”

If X invoices in customers’ currencies, it will receive known foreign-currency amounts and can hedge the exchange risk using forward contracts. So this is correct.

D – “The overseas customers may have difficulty obtaining X's home currency … so the proposal may increase sales.”

Right now, customers must obtain X’s currency to pay, bearing FX costs and risk. If X invoices in their local currency, buying becomes easier and could boost sales. So D is correct.

Why the others are wrong:

B: Effective sales price might go up or down; it isn’t necessarily lower.

C: Invoicing in customers’ currency removes certainty for X in home-currency terms unless hedged.

E: That describes the current position (customers bear the risk), not the proposed change.

Company issues new shares and uses proceeds to repay high-interest debt.

Effects:

Cost of equity (A): financial risk falls as gearing falls → cost of equity is more likely to decrease, not increase.

Number of shares (B): new share issue → increases.

Corporate tax payment (C): interest expense falls, taxable profit rises → tax paid increases.

Gearing (D): debt falls and equity rises → gearing decreases, not increases.

Interest cover (E): operating profit unchanged, interest lower → interest cover increases.

Answer: B, C and E