# UK CMA Merger Outcome Watch (`nexgenwatch/uk-cma-merger-outcome-watch`) Actor

Clearances, referrals and prohibitions on CMA merger cases.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/nexgenwatch/uk-cma-merger-outcome-watch.md
- **Developed by:** [NexGen Watch](https://apify.com/nexgenwatch) (community)
- **Categories:** Business, News
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $502.50 / 1,000 cma case deltas

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## UK CMA Merger Outcome Watch

Clearances, referrals and prohibitions on CMA merger cases.

### Source

gov.uk Search API, CMA case records (public, logged-out)

- https://www.gov.uk/api/search.json?filter\_format=cma\_case

Public, logged-out only — no API key, login, cookie or CAPTCHA.

### The eight delta types

| value | case family |
|---|---|
| `merger-inquiry-open` | a merger inquiry appears or opens |
| `merger-outcome` | a merger case gains an outcome or closes |
| `consumer-enforcement` | consumer-enforcement case movement |
| `cartel-investigation` | Competition Act, civil/criminal cartel and director-disqualification cases |
| `digital-markets-status` | Digital Markets Unit case movement |
| `subsidy-referral` | Subsidy Advice Unit referral movement |
| `market-study` | market study and market investigation movement |
| `remedy-review` | review of existing orders and undertakings |

Leave `delta_types` empty for all eight. Every delta carries `delta_kinds`.

### How this actor talks about investigations

An open Competition Act or cartel case is an **investigation**, not a finding. This
actor is built so it cannot say otherwise:

- `finding_status` is read from an explicit map of every outcome value the CMA
  corpus contains. An unrecognised outcome reports
  `no-finding-recorded-unmapped-outcome` — it is never pattern-matched into a status.
- `states_adverse_finding` is `true` for exactly four published outcomes:
  Chapter I infringement, Chapter II infringement, a disqualification order granted,
  and a consumer-law court order.
- **No party names are extracted from investigation or enforcement cases.** Merger
  titles are structured, so merger parties are listed; a cartel case carries its
  title verbatim and an empty `parties` list.
- A criminal-cartel **verdict** is reported as a verdict. The source does not say
  which way it went, so neither does this actor.
- Commitments, undertakings, no-grounds-for-action and administrative-priorities
  closures all report explicitly as **not** findings.
- Investigation cases without a published adverse finding carry a `language_note`
  saying so.

### Pricing

| Event | Price (FREE tier) |
|---|---|
| Actor start (`apify-actor-start`) | $0.02 one-time |
| Source check (`source-check`) | $0.10 |
| **Per delta (`cma-case-delta`)** | **$0.75** |

`source-check` ladder, GOLD-floored: **$0.10 / $0.09 / $0.08 / $0.067**. Charged once
per run after the source enumeration terminates — seed and genuine-zero runs
included. **Not** charged when the source refused the read.

The per-delta value event (`cma-case-delta`) is the **primary** event and is priced at **$0.75 per delta** at the FREE tier. Ladder, GOLD-floored: **$0.75 / $0.675 / $0.60 / $0.5025** (FREE / BRONZE / SILVER / GOLD-PLATINUM-DIAMOND). `source-check` still charges; it is no longer the headline event. Billed deltas are capped at 500 per run and any overflow is reported as a withholding rather than charged.

### Snapshot mode is a PREVIEW

`watch_mode: false` returns at most **25 records**, hard-capped in code.

### Watch semantics

First watch run seeds and emits **zero** deltas. Billed deltas capped at 500 per run.
A truncated read suppresses `REMOVED` rather than reporting a case as withdrawn.

### Terminal states

`NORMAL` · `SUCCEEDED-0: GENUINE_EMPTY` · `SUCCEEDED-0` (no change) · `PARTIAL` · `BLOCKED`.

### Run it WEEKLY, not daily

Schedule this Actor **once a week**. That is about your bill, not your coverage — a weekly run
reads the same corpus and misses nothing.

The CMA docket is slow. Walking all 2,570 cases on 2026-07-27, every one of the six CMA watches
measured **under one delta per week**, and most well under. A daily schedule pays seven
`source-check` events a week for a source that moves two or three times a week across the whole
docket — the check would be 70–80% of your bill and buy no extra signal.

This is a low-frequency, high-consequence feed. A merger prohibition or a Chapter I
infringement finding moves share prices; it just does not happen on a Tuesday because you
checked. Override the cadence if you have a reason to.

### One delta type per Actor

This Actor watches **`merger-outcome`** and nothing else. The other delta types in this family are separate Actors, each with its own price and its own baseline — so you pay for the feed you want and no other.

# Actor input Schema

## `market_sectors` (type: `array`):

Optional gov.uk sector slugs, e.g. communications, energy, financial-services, healthcare-and-medical-equipment.

## `state` (type: `string`):

Restrict to open or closed cases, or watch both.

## `max_items` (type: `integer`):

Newest-first cap per case family (bounds runtime).

## `watch_mode` (type: `boolean`):

First run seeds a private baseline and emits ZERO deltas.

## `baseline_id` (type: `string`):

Names the private baseline so several watches can run side by side.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "market_sectors": [],
  "state": "both",
  "max_items": 30,
  "watch_mode": true,
  "baseline_id": "default"
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "market_sectors": [],
    "state": "both",
    "max_items": 30,
    "watch_mode": false,
    "baseline_id": "default"
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("nexgenwatch/uk-cma-merger-outcome-watch").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "market_sectors": [],
    "state": "both",
    "max_items": 30,
    "watch_mode": False,
    "baseline_id": "default",
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("nexgenwatch/uk-cma-merger-outcome-watch").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "market_sectors": [],
  "state": "both",
  "max_items": 30,
  "watch_mode": false,
  "baseline_id": "default"
}' |
apify call nexgenwatch/uk-cma-merger-outcome-watch --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,nexgenwatch/uk-cma-merger-outcome-watch"
        }
    }
}

```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/rLB2SHSqWxJSwLTrz/builds/JNbKxaua7xIiDaCn0/openapi.json