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Sainsbury’s and Asda offer to sell supermarkets to salvage merger

daniellelevy
Written By:
daniellelevy
Posted:
Updated:
22/03/2019

Sainsbury’s and Asda have offered to sell between 125 and 150 supermarkets in a bid to ensure their merger gets the go-ahead from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

The announcement follows the supermarkets’ decision to put through £1bn in price cuts and cap fuel profits over the next five years.

Sky News estimates that the sale of stores would equate to 1 in 8 of the 1,200 sites across the combined group.

The move follows the CMA’s comments that a merger in its current form could lead to higher prices and this would disadvantage consumers.

Sainsbury’s and Asda responded to the CMA by pointing out that the deal would create cost savings in three ways. Firstly, by lowering purchasing prices from suppliers. Secondly by putting Argos stores into Asda. And finally, by jointly buying goods and services which would reduce central costs.

At 16:00, Sainsbury’s shares were down 0.2% at £2.36 per share.