By Kate Brown
The UK’s second and third largest supermarkets have confirmed plans to merge into one giant, whereby they would represent one third of money spent on groceries.
The combined companies would comprise of:
- 2,800 stores
- 330,000 employees
- 47 million customer transactions per week
- Combined revenues of £51 billion
Sainsbury’s chief executive, Mike Coupe, said that deal would lead to no store closures or job losses in stores: “the stores will continue to trade and of course that’s where the vast majority of people employed by both companies actually work”.
Sainsbury’s and Asda also said that grocery prices would fall in both chains as a result. Mike Coupe commented: “it will enable us to bring prices down, to improve quality, to improve ranges and o bring the power of Walmart in the form of buying of general merchandise and in the form of their systems and investments to the UK”. Walmart, who currently owns Asda, will retain a 42% stake in the newly
In response to the merger news, Sainsbury’s shares rose 16%.
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