At last. Asda’s long-awaited acquisition of EG Group’s UK and Ireland operations includes around 350 petrol filling station sites and over 1,000 food-to-go locations, which will help the discount grocer expand its footprint in the highly competitive convenience sector. Crucially, it will also help the Issa brothers, the billionaire owners of both EG Group and Asda, to refinance debt coming due in 2025.
Here’s the key business news from London this morning:
In The City
Asda Group Ltd: The owners of the low-cost supermarket chain sealed a deal to merge it with EG Group’s UK and Ireland gas station and convenience arm for about £2.27 billion.
- Asda shareholders will provide £450m equity funding as part of the deal
Unilever Plc: The consumer goods giant’s finance chief Graeme Pitkethly plans to retire by the end of May next year, after 21 years at the company.
- His exit may help Unilever get a fresh start, with CEO Alan Jope planning to retire this year
Greencore Group Plc: The convenience foods maker grew sales by more than 20% in the first six months of the year as higher food prices drove price increases.
- Price increases were also supplemented by volume growth and news business, which contributed 5% of the sales growth
In Westminster
The Labour Party is considering making it cheaper for councils to forcibly purchase land for development, part of its bid to spur house-building. Under the current system, councils are able to issue a compulsory purchase order to acquire land, but have to pay a price that includes the so-called “hope value,” which reflects the value of potential future planning permissions.
Labour is looking at how this could be reduced or removed entirely, according to three people familiar with the matter. The plans are still yet to be finalized, the people said.
In Case You Missed It
Prices in UK stores are rising at a record pace as the cost-of-living crisis shows little indication of easing. Shop price inflation accelerated to 9% this month, a new peak for an index that started in 2005, the British Retail Consortium said Tuesday. That’s an increase from 8.8% in April.
Elon Musk is expected to visit China this week in what would be his first trip to the country in three years, people familiar with the plans said. He’s likely to meet senior Chinese officials and visit Tesla Inc.’s Shanghai factory. Musk is expected to discuss the automaker’s full self-driving technology, which Tesla is seeking to introduce in China, one of the people said.
Looking Ahead
Discount retailer B&M European Value Retail S.A. is one of the few companies disclosing results tomorrow. The Luxembourg-based firm’s full-year revenue is seen at around £4.96 billion, according to a consensus estimate compiled by Bloomberg, up from £4.67 billion reported in 2022.
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