UK competition watchdog raises questions about NSF-Provident merger

(Reuters) - Britain's competition watchdog said on Wednesday it was considering whether Non-Standard Finance's (NSF) hostile takeover of rival doorstep lender Provident Financial would result in a substantial lessening of competition.The watchdog also confirmed NSF had offered to demerge its home credit business as part of the deal but raised questions over whether it would be truly independent after a proposed demerger.The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) had said in February that the..