Asda is exploring a £4.4bn takeover of B&M, the fast-growing discount retailer run by billionaire brothers Simon and Bobby Arora, according to The Sunday Times. Britain’s third-biggest supermarket chain is understood to be in the early stages of assessing a bid for B&M, which is chaired by the former Tesco boss Sir Terry Leahy. An industry source said that buying B&M would reduce Asda’s reliance on food sales and provide a high street network to stock its George clothing range. (The Times £)

UK supermarkets have been forced to move out of their traditional market in the face of constantly growing competition from German discount rivals Lidl and Aldi (The Daily Mail). Asda has been hit hardest by cheaper competition, having positioned itself as the budget choice among the big four (The Guardian).

However, Senior Asda sources have dismissed reports that the supermarket chain is planning a £4.4 bn takeover of discount retailer B&M. Asda sources told The Telegraph there was no truth to speculation that it was mulling a takeover of B&M and said that its US parent, Walmart, was in charge of mergers and acquisitions. (The Telegraph)

The Sunday Times’ Iain Dey writes that if this deal comes to pass for Asda a gaggle of investment bankers will descend on Morrisons pressing it to join in with the takeover game. The obvious name at the top of its shopping list would be The Range, the Plymouth-based discount chain owned and run by billionaire Chris Dawson. This could be fun. (The Times £)

Quorn Foods plans to create “hundreds” of new jobs through a multimillion-pound investment in its factory in Teesside as the maker of substitute meat products said that it had enjoyed a record first half of the year (The Times £). Meat substitute firm Quorn Foods plans to create 300 jobs and invest £150m over the next five years to boost production at its plant in Billingham (Sky News).

The trend for health-conscious consumers to ditch gluten from their diets has led Britain’s newest private equity firm, Mayfair, to gobble up Promise Gluten Free in a deal valuing the bakery group at around €100m. (The Telegraph)

Graze, the snack business that started as a subscription service for health-conscious office workers, is being groomed for a £300m sale next year by its owner (The Telegraph).

A long awaited legal challenge pitting Scotland’s whisky producers against the Scottish National party’s flagship health policy on binge drinking will be fought at the UK’s highest court this week. The Supreme Court will on Monday hear a case brought by alcohol producers against the Scottish government over its plans to tackle excessive drinking by imposing a minimum price on alcohol. (The Financial Times £)

Trade Secretary Liam Fox is reportedly open to importing chlorine-washed chickens from the US in order to secure a post-Brexit trade deal. Dr Fox is travelling to Washington DC where he will meet US trade representative Robert Lighthizer for two days of talks at the first UK-US trade and investment working group. (Sky News)

Iceland boss Sir Malcolm Walker tells the Telegraph the chain is “not trying to woo the middle classes” (The Telegraph £).

FTSE 100 payments giant Worldpay could be forced to leave a rump of shares on the London market following its takeover by American rival Vantiv, after British fund managers raised objections to the £9bn deal. (The Times £)

SodaStream is getting busy with the fizzy again, according to The Guardian. The popular gadget of 70s and 80s is bubbling up again, remarketing itself as the greener alternative to fizzy drinks’ copious cans and bottles. (The Guardian)

Apeel Sciences has invented a vegetable-based coating that dramatically increases the life of fresh fruit and veg, by a factor of 2.5 times in some cases. And it can be “tuned”, based on its estimated time from picking to shelf, so that supermarkets and suppliers can predict the day when treated produce will ripen. (The Times £)

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