“The Office of Fair Trading is due to decide whether to refer Waterstone’s planned takeover of Ottakar’s bookshops to the Competition Commission. If the £96.4 million deal is given the go-ahead, Waterstone’s parent company, HMV, will control at least 23.6 per cent of the British book trade. Leading publishers and authors are making a last-ditch attempt this weekend to head off the deal, which some fear will mean too much power being concentrated.”