Competition regulation "onerous", says Dighton

by Catherine Woods - Wednesday, 23rd April 2008 -

G4S chief financial officer Trevor Dighton says tougher competition regulation is becoming an issue because it’s getting harder and harder to gain approval for deals.

The £4.5bn-turnover security services provider has already acquired two companies this year – Washington D.C.-based RONCO Consulting Corporation and Raleigh-headquartered MJM Investigations. Dighton says he expects shareholders to back the company to undertake another “very large” acquisition.

However, he notes that the UK’s Competition Commission is tough on the large deals needed by companies to get substantial synergies through a combination. The Competition Commission aims to ensure healthy competition between companies in the UK and investigates situations that may significantly damage or restrict competition. Dighton says: “I can understand that you need competition regulation but it can be onerous when growing.”

Dighton has worked in the security industry for 22 years and was appointed CFO of G4S, which now has close to 550,000 employees, when the company was created in July 2004 through the merger of Securicor with Group 4 Falck A/S’s security business. He was previously Securicor's group finance director.

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