One of Sainsbury’s biggest investors has allowed its stake to fall by 3% after declining to invest more money in new shares to fund the grocer’s purchase of Home Retail Group, according to a report in The Times. The paper writes that it understands Qatar Investment Authority has not sold any shares but because new shares were issued as part of the £1.4bn Argos deal, its stake has been diluted. It is the first time the Qatari stake has dropped below 25% (to 22%) per cent since the recession. The move could raise questions about how supportive QIA is of Sainsbury’s swoop on Home Retail.
Irish fruit producer Fyffes has bought its second Canadian mushroom distributor in a year as it continues to pursue a strategy of growth through acquisition (The Telegraph). The company paid CAD$59.1m (£34.4m) for All Seasons Mushrooms, one of the largest mushroom producers in Western Canada.
Sales across British high streets have fallen for seven months in a row, figures reveal today. Last month, year-on-year sales fell by 1.5%, the BDO monthly High Street Sales Tracker showed, The Mail reports.
The number of UK workers on zero-hours contracts has leapt 20% in a year to more than 900,000, new figures from the Office for National Statistic revealed (The Guardian).
Gene editing technology will be “transformational” for Genus, its chief executive said as he announced that the livestock genetics business will ramp up spending on R&D this year, The Telegraph writes. The company is using the latest in genetic technology to produce pigs and cattle that are naturally resistant to disease.
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