An investigation of how the proposed £7.3bn takeover of supermarket chain Asda by rival J Sainsbury might affect competition will consider the impact on suppliers as well as shoppers (Financial Times, The Times £). It will also factor in the “strength of retailers such as Aldi and Lidl”, online-only grocers Ocado and Amazon, and non-food retailers such as John Lewis & Partners, during the second stage of its investigation (Telegraph). In addition to groceries, the inquiry into Sainsbury’s planned buyout of Asda will examine the sale of petrol, toys, school uniforms and small kitchen appliances (The Guardian).
Discount supermarkets Aldi and Lidl are continuing to out-pace Tesco and Sainsbury’s as the latest figures revealed growth at the traditional supermarkets is lagging (Telegraph). Britain’s three biggest grocers, Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda, lost market share in the 12 weeks to Oct 7 as consumers increasingly shopped at the discounters, research firm Kantar Worldpanel said (Independent). Despite the media frenzy around Tesco’s new discount chain, Jack’s, the UK’s biggest supermarket still lost market share to cut-price rivals Aldi and Lidl over the last three months (Daily Mail).
Shares in the parent company of café chain Patisserie Valerie will remain suspended until it can give more details about accounting irregularities it uncovered last week and its financial reporting is “appropriate for a quoted company” (Financial Times). A Patisserie Holdings shareholder meeting to approve an emergency share issue will take place on November 1, but dealings in the new shares will only begin “once the company’s ordinary shares cease to be suspended from trading,” the company said. Trading in the shares of Patisserie Holdings may not restart for several weeks as the company rebuilds its accounts after the apparent fraud alleged to have been committed by its finance chief (The Times £).
Walmart’s chief executive has told investors to expect the company to “test a lot — and fail sometimes” as the world’s largest retailer steps up innovation to address the competitive threat from Amazon and other online shopping companies (Financial Times). Doug McMillon said at an investor meeting on Tuesday that the Arkansas-based company was experimenting with technology ranging from floor-cleaning robots to augmented reality and biometrics as he urged Wall Street to “challenge your thinking about Walmart”.
Grocery delivery service Instacart has raised a $600m new war chest to help US supermarkets to go up against Amazon-owned Whole Foods (Financial Times). The new fundraising, which takes its total financing to $1.6bn since it was founded in 2012, values Instacart at more than $7bn. Its valuation has more than doubled since its last $400m round in March 2017.
Sky News understands that Giles Turrell, is leading a joint bid by Goldman Sachs’ private equity unit and the buyout firm PAI Partners for Kimberly-Clark’s European tissue division (Sky News). The unit has been put up for sale by the New York-listed company as it seeks to reduce costs and dispose of less profitable businesses.
British American Tobacco has cut its full-year sales target for cigarette alternative products by 10 per cent to £900m, blaming lower demand in Japan and a product recall in the US, and said it would pay down debt slower than expected through 2019 (Financial Times).
Unilever will engage more with its shareholders and has learned lessons from investors’ opposition to the consumer goods group’s pay policy, a company executive said on Tuesday in response to questions from a British parliamentary committee (Reuters).
Consumer confidence has fallen for the first time in more than a year amid unease about disposable income and debt levels, according to a poll by Deloitte (The Times £).
Almost 900,000 perfectly edible, freshly prepared meals end up in the bin in the UK every day, new figures reveal, because they haven’t been sold in time by restaurants and cafes (The Guardian). This means that more than 320m meals are thrown away by British food establishments every year – enough meals for everyone in the UK five times over, according to food waste app Too Good To Go.
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