Ottakar's stores were rebranded as Waterstone's following the HMV Group takeover of the Ottakar's chain, the prize also changed its name to become the Waterstone's Children's Book Prize. Takeover In August 2005, amid rumours of a forthcoming takeover attempt by HMV Group plc, the owners of Ottakar's (founders James Heneage and Philip Dunne backed by private equity firm Phoenix Equity Partners) made a management buyout offer which was initially accepted by Ottakar's independent directors, some of whom had only recently joined the company. When a higher offer was made by HMV, the owners switched their recommendation to accept the HMV bid. The Office of Fair Trading was due to decide whether to approve the buyout of Ottakar's by Waterstone's on 2 December 2005. On 6 December the OFT referred the case to the Competition Commission. The Competition Commission provisionally cleared HMV Group, through Waterstone's, for takeover of the Ottakar's group on 30 March 2006. The Commission stated that the takeover would "not result in a substantial lessening of competition", and was "not likely to affect book prices, range of titles offered or quality of service." Through extensive research they also found that "contrary to widespread perception, Waterstone's, like Ottakar's, operates a book-buying system which mixes central and local input on stock selection." Waterstone's then announced that it had successfully negotiated a takeover of Ottakar's on 31 May 2006 with an agreed cash offer of £62.8 million. HMV chief executive Alan Giles said in a statement: "A combined Waterstone's and Ottakar's business will create an exciting, quality bookseller, able to respond better to the increasingly competitive pressures of the retail market." Ottakar's chairman Philip Dunne said: "Over the last year the book market has undergone a significant change with new levels of competition from the supermarkets and online retailers impacting all specialist booksellers and in particular those with insufficient scale to compete on equal terms." By Christmas 2006, all stores were converted and rebranded as Waterstone's; Ottakar's name was discarded after the takeover. See also Books in the United Kingdom References External links Ottakar's official site (Archived from the original on 4 July 2006) Office of Fair Trading Companies formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange Defunct retail companies of the United Kingdom Retail companies disestablished in 2006 Retail companies established in 1987 Bookshops of the United Kingdom 1987 establishments in the United Kingdom 2006 disestablishments in the United Kingdom