Spoiled choice

21 January 2019 By Aimee Donnellan Follow @aimeedonnellan

UK competition watchdogs will soon opine on the grocer’s $9 bln acquisition of Asda. Its share price suggests investors think the deal will get the thumbs-down, or need painful disposals. A failed deal would put pressure on CEO Mike Coupe to come up with a new growth plan.

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J Sainsbury, Britain’s second-largest supermarket chain by market share, said on Jan. 9 that it still believed that UK antitrust officials would clear its 7.3 billion pound acquisition of rival Asda.

A British court ruled on Dec. 14 that the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) treated Sainsbury’s and takeover target Asda unfairly in not allowing the supermarket groups more time to respond to evidence submitted as part of a probe of their deal.

Sainsbury’s agreed in April 2018 to buy Asda from Walmart. The CMA is expected to publish its decision on the deal by March 5.

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