The automotive bearing market is severely affected by international competition. Even if the intensity of import penetration will not be as strong after the merger of automobile bearing manufacturers, British automobile manufacturers will still be able to obtain these products from other countries in the European Union at any time and without any effort. They can even import these bearing products from countries outside the European Union at any time. Business mergers do not bring about major trade barriers, legal management obstacles, or barriers to business access, and transportation costs are low. Therefore, high market share resulting from business mergers does not equal monopoly. Because the Secretary of State and the Office of Fair Trading believe that the possibility of international competition is real and self-evident. Another telling example is the Secretary of State's announcement in September 1988 that he had decided not to acquire Leyland Bus Group from Volvo Bus Corporation. ) case was submitted to the British Monopolies and Mergers Commission for investigation. Although the two bus companies, Volvo and Leyland, accounted for more than 50% of the bus and coach market in the UK after the merger, the Secretary of State relied on the Office of Fair Trading's assessment to take into account competition from European car manufacturers. He made an exception for the case.

Through comparative analysis, it is not difficult to find that the geographical market related to products or services may be limited to the local market rather than the national market, let alone the international market. In 1987, the British Monopolies and Mergers Commission was asked to investigate a business merger. Authorities believe the merger has led to a monopoly on Scotland's funeral services market. The committee filed a case to verify that the merger violated public interests, so the merged company was required to make substantial business dispositions. If this case is considered in the UK market as a whole, there is no fact that there is a monopoly operation. However, because funeral service companies in England and Wales have not fully entered the Scottish market to compete for the funeral service market share. The relevant market considered by the Commission was therefore limited to the local Scottish market. Business monopoly occurred there. Coincidentally, in a series of bus company mergers, the Minister of State initiated an investigation into mergers between companies operating local bus services. Bus services are a highly competitive and localized market. It makes little sense to consider local bus services in the context of the UK market as a whole.

In the case of Grand Metropolitan's acquisition of the William Hill bookbinding chain in 1988, the local market was also considered as an important factor. . When the UK Monopolies and Mergers Commission considers whether a business merger reduces competition in the relevant geographical market, it considers the market within a quarter mile radius of the offices of the two merging companies as the relevant market that should be considered. Since Grand Metropolitan's Mecca and William Hill offices had offices within a quarter-mile of each other, the Monopolies and Mergers Commission ultimately ruled that the merger was required. The enterprise conducts business disposal activities. In a 1990 merger, the Office of Fair Trading and the Secretary of State accepted assurances from the Rank Organization after taking into account local market factors. Lanco pledged to dispose of ten of Macca's twelve bingo clubs in London as a remedy for the negative impact on competition caused by its acquisition of Macca. The assurance shielded him from formal investigation by the committee.

The cases briefly discussed by the author above have a common feature: in order to draw a conclusion on a business merger, the market boundaries whose competitive status must be analyzed are not limited to the British market. In some cases, such market boundaries are much broader and in other cases much narrower. In all these cases, however, the relevant market boundaries are determined by the specific circumstances of the particular market under consideration. When assessing the impact of a business merger on competition, the relevant UK authorities must define the relevant product and service markets affected by the business merger.