A worker guides vehicles into the forecourt as they queue to refill at a fuel station in London, Britain, September 30, 2021. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
Many gas stations still closed – Reuters reporters
Britain says crisis stabilising
Retailers: fuel demand unprecedented
Pig cull fears: farmers warn butcher shortage
Pig farmers urge retailers to shun EU pork
LONDON, Oct 1 (Reuters) – Many British gas stations were still dry on Friday after a chaotic week that saw panic-buying, fights at the pumps and drivers hoarding fuel in water bottles after an acute shortage of truck drivers strained supply chains to breaking point.
Shortages of workers in the wake of Brexit and the COVID pandemic have sown disarray through some sectors of the economy, disrupting deliveries of fuel and medicines and leaving up to 150,000 pigs backed up on farms.
British ministers have for days insisted the crisis is abating or even over, though retailers said more than 2,000 gas stations were dry and Reuters reporters across London and southern England said dozens of pumps were still closed.
Queues of often irate drivers snaked back from those gas stations that were still open in London.
“I am completely, completely fed up. Why is the country not ready for anything?” said Ata Uriakhil, a 47-year-old taxi driver from Afghanistan who was first in a line of more than 40 cars outside a closed Sainsbury’s petrol station in Richmond.
“When is it going to end?,” Uriakhil said. “The politicians are not capable of doing their jobs properly. The government should have been prepared for this crisis. It is just incompetence.”
Uriakhil said he had lost about 20% of his normal earnings this week because he has been waiting for fuel rather than picking up customers.
Ministers say the world is facing a global shortage of truck drivers and that they are working to ease the crisis. They deny that the situation is a consequence of an exodus of EU workers following Britain’s departure from the bloc, and have dismissed concerns the country is heading towards a “winter of discontent” of shortages and power cuts.
Though there are shortages of truck drivers in other countries, EU members have not seen fuel shortages.
The Petrol Retailers Association (PRA) said members reported on Thursday that 27% of pumps were dry, 21% had just one fuel type in stock and 52% had enough petrol and diesel.
After a shortage of truckers triggered panic buying at gas stations, farmers are now warning that a shortage of butchers and abattoir workers could force a mass cull of up to 150,000 pigs.
EU PIGS?
Britain’s pig industry implored retailers to continue buying local pork and not cheaper EU products, saying businesses would go bust and livestock would be culled if producers were not given immediate support.
The weekly slaughter of pigs has dropped by 25% since August after the pandemic and Britain’s post-Brexit immigration rules combined to hit an industry already struggling for workers, leading to a now acute shortage of butchers and slaughterers.
“As a result of the labour supply issues in pork processing plants, we currently have an estimated 120,000 pigs backed up on UK pig farms that should have gone to slaughter,” the National Pig Association said in a letter to retailers.
“The only option for some will be to cull pigs on farm.”
The meat processing industry has long struggled to find enough workers but it has been hit by the departure of many eastern European workers who returned home due to Brexit and COVID-19.
The pig association said that despite attempts to persuade the government to ease immigration rules, it appeared to have reached an impasse. Britain recently changed tack to allow some international workers to come in for three months to drive trucks and fill gaps in the poulty sector.
Additional reporting by Costas Pitas, Kate Holton, James Davey and Sarah Young; writing by Guy Faulconbridge; editing by Andy Bruce and Angus MacSwan
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
LONDON, Sept 28 (Reuters) – British drivers expressed frustration on Tuesday as they hunted for hours or sat snarled in queues to fill their tanks after gas stations in major cities ran dry due to a trucker shortage that has prompted the government to put the army on standby.
Queues of drivers snaked back from those petrol stations that were still serving in major cities, though dozens of forecourts were closed with signs saying they had no petrol or diesel, Reuters reporters said.
A post-Brexit shortage of lorry drivers, exacerbated by a halt to truck-driving-licence testing during COVID lockdowns, has sown chaos through supply chains, raising the spectre of shortages and price rises in the run up to Christmas.
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said a limited number of military tanker drivers had been put on a state of readiness to be deployed to deliver fuel if necessary.
“I can’t believe it – it’s crazy,” said David Scade, a 33-year-old delivery driver who drove for hours searching for fuel in London.
“They keep saying there is no shortage but I suppose everyone is panicking now,” said Scade who was filling up at a Shell gas station in London.
Fights broke out at some English petrol stations as drivers jostled for fuel. Medics said health workers should be given priority to fill their cars to keep the health service working.
An air of chaos has gripped the world’s fifth largest economy in recent weeks as the shortage of truckers strained supply chains and a spike in European wholesale natural gas prices tipped energy companies into bankruptcy.
Retailers, truckers and logistics companies have warned that prices for everything from energy to Christmas gifts will have to rise.
CHRISTMAS SUPPLY?
British ministers, fuel companies and petrol stations say there are sufficient supplies of fuel but that the lack of truckers combined with panic buying has drained the system.
Such is the gravity of the situation that the British Medical Association has called for health workers to get priority access to fuel to ensure the health service can operate. read more
The demand for fuel has meant that 50% to 90% of pumps were dry in some areas of Britain, according the Petrol Retailers Association (PRA), which represents independent fuel retailers who account for 65% of all the 8,380 UK forecourts.
The government on Sunday announced a plan to issue temporary visas for 5,000 foreign truck drivers. But some Polish hauliers said that offer was laughable and that few would be likely to take it up.
Hauliers, petrol stations and retailers say there are no quick fixes as the shortfall of truck drivers – estimated at about 100,000 – was so acute, and because transporting fuel demands additional training and licensing.
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) urged the government to broaden the size and scope of the scheme to attract the truckers needed to keep Christmas supplies on track.
“To avoid disappointment for millions of households during the festive season we urge the government to rapidly extend this programme, both in size and scope, to HGV drivers in all sectors of the retail industry,” Andrew Opie, director of food and sustainability at the BRC, said.
“It will take many months before there are enough new British drivers to cover the shortfall,” Opie said.
Writing by Michael Holden and Guy Faulconbridge; editing by Alistair Bell and Philippa Fletcher
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
LONDON, Sept 25 (Reuters) – Britain is expected to announce plans to issue temporary visas to truck drivers to alleviate an acute labour shortage that has led to fuel rationing at some filling stations and warnings from retailers of significant disruption in the run-up to Christmas.
As queues started forming outside filling stations early on Saturday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s office said it was looking at temporary measures to address the shortage of heavy goods vehicle (HGV) drivers.
Newspapers reported that the government would allow up to 5,000 foreign drivers into Britain on short-term visas, a measure that logistics companies and retailers have demanded for months but which the government had previously ruled out.
The UK’s Road Haulage Association (RHA) says Britain needs 100,000 more drivers if it is to meet demand. The driver shortage has been caused partly by Brexit and COVID-19, and the loss of about a year of driver training and testing.
“We’re looking at temporary measures to avoid any immediate problems, but any measures we introduce will be very strictly time limited,” a spokeswoman for Johnson’s Downing Street office said in a statement.
Downing Street declined to give further details.
Ministers have cautioned against panic buying, and oil companies say there is no shortage of supplies, merely problems delivering the fuel to the gas stations.
However, long lines of vehicles have begun gathering at petrol stations to fill up after BP (BP.L) said it had to close some of its outlets due to the driver shortages.
Some Shell (RDSa.L) stations have also reported pumps running dry while ExxonMobil’s (XOM.N) Esso has also said a small number of its 200 Tesco Alliance retail sites had also been impacted in some way.
EG Group, which runs hundreds of forecourts across Britain, said on Friday it would impose a purchase limit of 30 pounds ($41) per customer for fuel due to the “unprecedented customer demand”.
“We have ample fuel stocks in this country and the public should be reassured there are no shortages,” the Downing Street spokeswoman said.
“But like countries around the world we are suffering from a temporary COVID-related shortage of drivers needed to move supplies around the country.”
The fuel issue comes as Britain, the world’s fifth-largest economy, also grapples with a spike in European natural gas prices causing soaring energy prices and a potential food supply crunch.
Other countries such as the United States and Germany are also dealing with truck driver shortages.
Britain says the long-term solution is for more British drivers to be hired, with the RHA saying better pay and conditions are needed to attract people into the industry.
But the retail industry has warned that unless the government acts to address the shortage in the next 10 days, then significant disruption is inevitable in the run-up to Christmas. read more
($1 = 0.7311 pounds)
Reporting by Michael Holden and Guy Faulconbridge
Editing by Frances Kerry
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Embedded finance investment jumps in 2021, data shows
Buy now pay later deals take centre stage
Fintech market valuations leapfrog banks
LONDON, Sept 17 (Reuters) – Anyone can be a banker these days, you just need the right code.
Global brands from Mercedes and Amazon (AMZN.O) to IKEA and Walmart (WMT.N) are cutting out the traditional financial middleman and plugging in software from tech startups to offer customers everything from banking and credit to insurance.
For established financial institutions, the warning signs are flashing.
So-called embedded finance – a fancy term for companies integrating software to offer financial services – means Amazon can let customers “buy now pay later” when they check out and Mercedes drivers can get their cars to pay for their fuel.
To be sure, banks are still behind most of the transactions but investors and analysts say the risk for traditional lenders is that they will get pushed further away from the front end of the finance chain.
And that means they’ll be further away from the mountains of data others are hoovering up about the preferences and behaviours of their customers – data that could be crucial in giving them an edge over banks in financial services.
“Embedded financial services takes the cross-sell concept to new heights. It’s predicated on a deep software-based ongoing data relationship with the consumer and business,” said Matt Harris, a partner at investor Bain Capital Ventures.
“That is why this revolution is so important,” he said. “It means that all the good risk is going to go to these embedded companies that know so much about their customers and what is left over will go to banks and insurance companies.”
WHERE DO YOU WANT TO PLAY?
For now, many areas of embedded finance are barely denting the dominance of banks and even though some upstarts have licences to offer regulated services such as lending, they lack the scale and deep funding pools of the biggest banks.
But if financial technology firms, or fintechs, can match their success in grabbing a chunk of digital payments from banks – and boosting their valuations in the process – lenders may have to respond, analysts say.
Stripe, for example, the payments platform behind many sites with clients including Amazon and Alphabet’s (GOOGL.O) Google, was valued at $95 billion in March. read more
Accenture estimated in 2019 that new entrants to the payments market had amassed 8% of revenues globally – and that share has risen over the past year as the pandemic boosted digital payments and hit traditional payments, Alan McIntyre, senior banking industry director at Accenture, said.
Now the focus is turning to lending, as well as complete off-the-shelf digital lenders with a variety of products businesses can pick and choose to embed in their processes.
“The vast majority of consumer centric companies will be able to launch financial products that will allow them to significantly improve their customer experience,” said Luca Bocchio, partner at venture capital firm Accel.
“That is why we feel excited about this space.”
So far this year, investors have poured $4.25 billion into embedded finance startups, almost three times the amount in 2020, data provided to Reuters by PitchBook shows.
Leading the way is Swedish buy now pay later (BNPL) firm Klarna which raised $1.9 billion.
DriveWealth, which sells technology allowing companies to offer fractional share trading, attracted $459 million while investors put $229 million into Solarisbank, a licensed German digital bank which offers an array of banking services software.
Shares in Affirm (AFRM.O), meanwhile, surged last month when it teamed up with Amazon to offer BNPL products while rival U.S. fintech Square (SQ.N) said last month it was buying Australian BNPL firm Afterpay (APT.AX) for $29 billion.
Square is now worth $113 billion, more than Europe’s most valuable bank, HSBC (HSBA.L), on $105 billion.
“Big banks and insurers will lose out if they don’t act quickly and work out where to play in this market,” said Simon Torrance, founder of Embedded Finance & Super App Strategies.
Reuters Graphics
YOU NEED A LOAN!
Several other retailers have announced plans this year to expand in financial services.
Walmart launched a fintech startup with investment firm Ribbit Capital in January to develop financial products for its employees and customers while IKEA took a minority stake in BNPL firm Jifiti last month.
Automakers such as Volkswagen’s (VOWG_p.DE) Audi and Tata’s (TAMO.NS) Jaguar Land Rover have experimented with embedding payment technology in their vehicles to take the hassle out of paying, besides Daimler’s (DAIGn.DE) Mercedes.
“Customers expect services, including financial services, to be directly integrated at the point of consumption, and to be convenient, digital, and immediately accessible,” said Roland Folz, chief executive of Solarisbank which provides banking services to more than 50 companies including Samsung.
It’s not just end consumers being targeted by embedded finance startups. Businesses themselves are being tapped on the shoulder as their digital data is crunched by fintechs such as Canada’s Shopify (SHOP.TO).
It provides software for merchants and its Shopify Capital division also offers cash advances, based on an analysis of more than 70 million data points across its platform.
“No merchant comes to us and says, I would like a loan. We go to merchants and say, we think it’s time for funding for you,” said Kaz Nejatian, vice president, product, merchant services at Shopify.
“We don’t ask for business plans, we don’t ask for tax statements, we don’t ask for income statements, and we don’t ask for personal guarantees. Not because we are benevolent but because we think those are bad signals into the odds of success on the internet,” he said.
A Shopify spokesperson said funding goes from $200 to $2 million. It has provided $2.3 billion in cumulative capital advances and is valued at $184 billion, well above Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO), the country’s biggest traditional lender.
CONNECTED FUTURE?
Shopify’s lending business is, however, still dwarfed by the big banks. JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N), for example, had a consumer and community loan book worth $435 billion at the end of June.
Major advances into finance by companies from other sectors could also be limited by regulators.
Officials from the Bank for International Settlements, a consortium of central banks and financial regulators, warned watchdogs last month to get to grips with the growing influence of technology firms in finance. read more
Bain’s Harris said financial regulators were taking the approach that because they don’t know how to regulate tech firms they are insisting there’s a bank behind every transaction – but that did not mean banks would prevent fintechs encroaching.
“They are right that the banks will always have a role but it’s not a very remunerative role and it involves very little ownership of the customer,” he said.
Forrester analyst Jacob Morgan said banks had to decide where they want to be in the finance chain.
“Can they afford to fight for customer primacy, or do they actually see a more profitable route to market to become the rails that other people run on top of?” he said. “Some banks will choose to do both.”
And some are already fighting back.
Citigroup (C.N) has teamed up with Google on bank accounts, Goldman Sachs (GS.N) is providing credit cards for Apple (AAPL.O) and JPMorgan is buying 75% of Volkswagen’s payments business and plans to expand to other industries. read more 06:00:00
“Connectivity between different systems is the future,” said Shahrokh Moinian, head of wholesale payments, EMEA, at JPMorgan. “We want to be the leader.”
Reporting by Anna Irrera and Iain Withers; Editing by Rachel Armstrong and David Clarke
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Small toy shopping cart is seen in front of displayed Flipkart logo in this illustration taken, July 30, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
NEW DELHI, Aug 5 (Reuters) – India’s financial-crime agency has asked Walmart’s (WMT.N) Flipkart and its founders to explain why they shouldn’t face a penalty of $1.35 billion for alleged violation of foreign investment laws, three sources and an agency official told Reuters.
The Enforcement Directorate agency has been investigating e-commerce giants Flipkart and Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) for years for allegedly bypassing foreign investment laws that strictly regulate multi-brand retail and restrict such companies to operating a marketplace for sellers.
The Enforcement Directorate official, who declined to be named, said the case concerned an investigation into allegations that Flipkart attracted foreign investment and a related party, WS Retail, then sold goods to consumers on its shopping website, which was prohibited under law.
A so-called “show cause notice” was issued in early July by the agency’s office in southern city of Chennai to Flipkart, its founders Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal as well as current investor Tiger Global, to explain why they should not face a fine of 100 billion rupees ($1.35 billion) for the lapses, said the agency official and the sources, who are all familiar with the content of the notice.
A Flipkart spokesperson said the company is “in compliance with Indian laws and regulations”.
“We will cooperate with the authorities as they look at this issue pertaining to the period 2009-2015 as per their notice,” the spokesperson added.
The Indian agency does not make public such notices issued to parties during an investigation.
One of the sources said Flipkart and others have around 90 days to respond to the notice. WS Retail ceased operations at the end of 2015, the person added.
Tiger Global declined to comment. Binny Bansal and Sachin Bansal did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Enforcement Directorate also did not respond outside regular business hours.
Walmart took a majority stake in Flipkart for $16 billion in 2018, its biggest deal ever. Sachin Bansal sold his stake to Walmart at the time, while Binny Bansal retained a small stake. Walmart did not respond to a request for comment.
Flipkart’s valuation doubled to $37.6 billion in less than 3 years at a $3.6 billion funding round in July, during which SoftBank Group (9984.T) reinvested in the company ahead of an expected market debut. read more
The notice is the latest regulatory headache for the online retailer, which is already facing tougher restrictions and antitrust investigations in India, and a growing number of complaints from smaller sellers.
India’s brick-and-mortar retailers say Amazon and Flipkart favour select sellers on their platforms and use complex business structures to bypass the foreign investment laws, hurting smaller players. The companies deny any wrongdoing.
In February, a Reuters investigation based on Amazon documents showed it had given preferential treatment for years to a small group of sellers, publicly misrepresented ties with them and used them to bypass Indian law. Amazon says it gives no preferential treatment to any seller.
Reporting by Aditya Kalra, Aftab Ahmed and Sanjeev Miglani in New Delhi; Additional reporting by Sankalp Pharityal; Editing by Kirsten Donovan
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
A Johnson & Johnson building is shown in Irvine, California, U.S., January 24, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Blake
July 19 (Reuters) – U.S. state attorneys general are expected this week to unveil a $26 billion settlement resolving claims that three major drug distributors and drugmaker Johnson & Johnson helped fuel a nationwide opioid epidemic, people familiar with the matter said on Monday.
Distributors McKesson Corp (MCK.N), Cardinal Health Inc (CAH.N) and AmerisourceBergen Corp (ABC.N) would pay a combined $21 billion, while Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) would pay $5 billion. New York on Tuesday is expected to announce the distributors have agreed to a $1 billion-plus settlement with the state, a source said.
The ultimate settlement pricetag could fluctuate depending on the number of states and political subdivisions that agree to the deal or reject it and pursue litigation on their own in hopes of a bigger payout down the line.
More than 40 states are expected to support the nationwide settlement, two sources said. States will have 30 days to decide whether to join the global accord then more time to try to convince their cities and counties to participate in the deal, the sources said.
McKesson has previously said that of the $21 billion the three distributors would pay over 18 years, more than 90% would be used to remediate the opioid crisis while the rest, about $2 billion, would be used to pay plaintiffs’ attorney fees and costs.
Several states have passed laws or reached agreements with their political subdivisions to govern how settlement proceeds would be allocated in the event of a nationwide settlement.
The financial terms are in line with prior disclosures by the three distributors and J&J about what they expected to have to pay following long-running settlement talks.
“There continues to be progress toward finalizing this agreement and we remain committed to providing certainty for involved parties and critical assistance for families and communities in need,” J&J said in a statement.
McKesson and Cardinal Health had no comment while AmerisourceBergen said it does not comment on “rumor and speculation.” They have all previously denied wrongdoing.
Nearly 500,000 people died from opioid overdoses in the United States from 1999 to 2019, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The opioid crisis appeared to worsen during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The CDC last week said provisional data showed that 2020 was a record year for drug overdose deaths with 93,331, up 29% from a year earlier. Opioids were involved in 74.7%, or 69,710, of those overdose deaths. read more
The distributors were accused of lax controls that allowed massive amounts of addictive painkillers to be diverted into illegal channels, devastating communities, while J&J was accused of downplaying the addiction risk.
Governments have said the money will be used to fund addiction treatment, family support programs, education and other health initiatives to address the crisis.
Other settlements are also being negotiated, with the opioid makers Purdue Pharma and Mallinckrodt Plc (MCDG.MU) now working through the bankruptcy courts to secure support for settlements worth more than $10 billion and $1.6 billion, respectively. read more
The distributors have been in the midst of two trials nationally in the litigation, one in New York and one in West Virginia. They have now agreed to resolve the New York case, a person briefed on the matter said.
The deal with New York Attorney General Letitia James and the populous Long Island counties of Nassau and Suffolk comes three weeks into the first jury trial accusing companies of profiting from a flood of addictive painkillers that devastated communities. read more
Closing arguments are expected in the West Virginia trial next week. Local West Virginia communities had opted out of the proposed nationwide deal to pursue one on their own.
The New York trial will continue against three drugmakers accused of deceptively marketing their painkillers – Endo International Plc (ENDP.O), Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (TEVA.TA) and AbbVie Inc’s (ABBV.N) Allergan unit.
Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Sandra Maler, Bill Berkot and Cynthia Osterman
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
A Morrisons store is pictured in St Albans, Britain, September 10, 2020. REUTERS/Peter Cziborra//File Photo
Fortress-led group offers 254 pence a share
Tops CD&R’s proposal of 230 pence
Some investors want 270 pence
Morrisons says Fortress would be suitable owner
Fortress says it will be ‘good steward’
LONDON, July 3 (Reuters) – Morrisons has agreed to a takeover led by SoftBank (9984.T) owned Fortress Investment Group, valuing Britain’s fourth largest supermarket chain at 6.3 billion pounds ($8.7 billion) and topping a rival proposal from a U.S. private equity firm.
The offer from Fortress, along with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Koch Real Estate Investments, exceeds a 5.52 billion pound unsolicited proposal from Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R), which Morrisons (MRW.L) rejected on June 19. read more
Including Morrisons’ net debt of 3.2 billion pounds, Fortress’ offer gives the group an enterprise value of 9.5 billion pounds.
“We have looked very carefully at Fortress’ approach, their plans for the business and their overall suitability as an owner of a unique British food-maker and shopkeeper with over 110,000 colleagues and an important role in British food production and farming,” said Morrisons Chairman Andrew Higginson.
“It’s clear to us that Fortress has a full understanding and appreciation of the fundamental character of Morrisons.”
The Fortress deal underlines the growing appetite from private funds for British supermarket groups, seen as attractive because of their cash generation and freehold assets.
Fortress, an independently-operated subsidiary of Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp, is a global investment manager with about $53 billion in assets under management as of March. It purchased British wine seller Majestic Wine in 2019.
“We are committed to being good stewards of Morrisons to best serve its stakeholder groups, and the wider British public, for the long term,” said managing partner, Joshua A. Pack.
Fortress intends to retain Morrisons’ existing management team led by CEO David Potts and execute its existing strategy. It said it was not planning any material store sale and leaseback transactions.
RECOMMENDATION
Under the terms of the deal, which Morrisons’ board is recommending to shareholders, investors would receive 254 pence a share, comprising 252 pence in cash and a 2 pence special cash dividend. CD&R’s proposal was 230 pence a share, worth 5.52 billion pounds.
Last week JO Hambro, a top ten shareholder in Morrisons, said any suitor for the group should offer about 270 pence a share or 6.5 billion pounds. read more
Morrisons, based in Bradford, northern England, started out as an egg and butter merchant in 1899. It now only trails market leader Tesco (TSCO.L), Sainsbury’s (SBRY.L) and Asda in annual sales.
Morrisons owns 85% of its nearly 500 stores and has 19 mostly freehold manufacturing sites. It is unique among British supermarkets in making over half of the fresh food it sells.
It said the Fortress offer represented a premium of 42% to its closing share price of 178 pence on June 18 – the day before CD&R’s proposal. The stock closed at 243 pence on Friday.
Morrisons’ directors, who own 0.23% of the group’s equity, would make 14.3 million pounds from selling their shares to Fortress.
CD&R, which under British takeover rules has until July 17 to come back with a firm offer, had no immediate comment.
Morrisons has a partnership agreement with Amazon (AMZN.O) and there has been speculation it too could emerge as a possible bidder.
FIVE PROPOSALS
Morrisons said an initial unsolicited proposal was received from Fortress on May 4 at 220 pence a share. This offer was not made public. Fortress then made four subsequent proposals before it offered a total value of 254 a share on June 5.
The bids for Morrisons follow February’s purchase by Zuber and Mohsin Issa and private equity firm TDR Capital of a majority stake in Asda from Walmart (WMT.N). The deal valued Asda at 6.8 billion pounds. read more
That transaction followed Sainsbury’s failure to take over Asda after an agreed deal was blocked by Britain’s competition regulator in 2019.
In April, Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky raised his stake in Sainsbury’s to almost 10%, igniting bid speculation.
read more
($1 = 0.7235 pounds)
Reporting by James Davey; Editing by Jane Merriman
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.