Asda could be listed on the stock market after its merger with supermarket rival Sainsbury’s was blocked by the competition authorities. Judith McKenna, chief executive of Asda’s owner Walmart, has told staff such a listing is being considered. But, she told managers at an event in Leeds, any listing could “take years”. It comes after […]
May 2019 CPI Europe Column edited by Anna Tzanaki (Competition Policy International) & Juan Delgado (Global Economics Group) presents: Economic Evidence and the Rights of the Defense: UK vs EU Merger Control By Tanya Macrae (Allen & Overy LLP)1 Click here for a PDF version of the article The issue of procedural fairness in UK and EU merger […]
Sainsbury’s and Asda, the British arm of US retailer Walmart, are “very unlikely” to appeal against the verdict of Britain’s regulator on their proposed merger, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday. A person with knowledge of the situation told the FT: “An appeal is still an option, but I would regard it as very unlikely.” […]
J Sainsbury and Asda have offered to dispose of between 125 and 150 supermarkets in an attempt to secure regulatory approval for their proposed £12 billion (US$15.8 billion) tie-up, according to documents filed by the grocers with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The proposed disposal is only half of the roughly 300 stores the […]
Sainsbury and Asda will provide a more specific commitment to cut prices as part of their response to the Competition and Markets Authority’s provisional verdict on their planned £7bn merger, according to people briefed on the process. They also said the supermarkets would recalculate a key indicator of consumer harm using what they consider to […]
According to a report from Bloomberg, Sainsbury and Asda are arguing that officials got their math wrong and were duped about a rival’s intentions. Sainsbury stepped up its push to salvage the deal on Thursday, March 14, before the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which stunned the supermarkets on February 20 by announcing harsher-than-expected findings […]
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced it had decided to delay the publication of its report to give it enough time to “reach a fully reasoned final decision” on the £12 billion (US$15.4 billion) merger of grocery store chains Asda and Sainsbury’s. An inquiry group made up of CMA panel members was due to […]
Frozen food chain Iceland is considering bidding for any stores Sainsbury’s and Asda are required to sell in order to obtain regulatory clearance for their proposed combination, as it seeks to expand its Food Warehouse business. Although the companies’ traditional superstores “would be too big” for Iceland to take on, “you can redevelop, you can […]
Sainsbury’s and Asda are seeking to take the competition watchdog to a judicial review – saying they have not been given enough time to argue the case for their merger. The planned tie-up between Britain’s second and third-biggest supermarkets has been referred for an in-depth investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), expected to be […]
The UK’s competition watchdog has announced that, in addition to groceries, its inquiry into Sainsbury’s planned buyout of Asda will examine the sale of petrol, toys, school uniforms, and small kitchen appliances. The extent to which fast-growing discount chains Aldi and Lidl act as “close alternatives” to the two traditional grocers will also be considered […]