The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has extended its review of Tesco‘s planned acquisition of 77 stores from Mills Group.

The OFT’s study into the deal, made through Tesco’s convenience chain One Stop Stores, has been extended by ten working days and will now expire on 1 February, the watchdog said today (11 January).

The UK’s Association of Convenience Stores last month reacted negatively to the news that One Stop was to acquire the 77 stores from English retailer Mills.

The deal is conditional upon regulatory approval and is expected to be completed in the spring. Following the deal, One Stop will account for around 1.2% of the approximate 50,000 convenience stores in the UK, according to IGD.