UK competition watchdog says examining NSF-Provident merger

(Reuters) - Britain's competition watchdog said on Wednesday it was considering whether Non-Standard Finance's (NSF) hostile takeover of rival 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.The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) had said in February that the two doorstep lenders would have to hold off from integrating after any deal, to protect staff and customers..