Wm Morrison wins OFT approval for deal to purchase 30 Co-operative stores
WM MORRISON yesterday got the green light from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) for its acquisition of 30 stores from Co-operative Group.
The shops being acquired will increase the size of the Morrison’s estate by about 10 per cent. Morrison has had to wait for OFT approval since the deal was first announced to the market in December.
Chief executive Marc Bolland has previously outlined the group’s strategy to expand its store estate and increase its market share in the South of the country. Bolland said: “We estimate there to be over 8m households in the UK which are not located within a 15 minute drive of a current Morrison’s store. ”
The group has said that it wants to add 1m square feet by January 2010.
This 30 store deal will exceed that target by 0.5m square feet, and the group is confident it will open a further 0.5m square feet of retail space in the year to January 2011.
A spokesperson for the company yesterday said: “The group has ambitious growth plans and this space expansion follows Morrison’s aims of going from national to nationwide.”