Co-op emerges as hot favourite to buy Nisa

The Manchester-based Co-op Group has been tipped to beat rival J Sainsbury in the race to buy Nisa Retail as the UK convenience store wars hot up.

Sky News is reporting that Nisa’s board has agreed a period of exclusivity to strike a deal to take over the business, with a £140m valuation suggested for the 3,000-store chain.

This is in the wake of Sainsbury’s cooling its interest in the Scunthorpe headquartered member-owned business because of fears over how competition regulators would assess any possible deal.

Meanwhile, Nisa chairman Peter Hartley said in a message to shareholders that the Co-op had “confirmed, subject to further due diligence, its intention to progress matters as quickly as possible, in the hope that a transaction can be fanalised”.
He went on to say “key elements” of the deal had yet to be resolved.

“Your board continues to focus on resolving them in a manner which is satisfactory to members,” he said. “As a result, and in line with the board of Nisa’s duty to act in the best interest of all Nisa members, your board has granted the Co-op a period of exclusive due diligence from today (Wednesday, August 30).”

Nisa trades from roughly 3,000 stores across the UK. It is being advised on the sale process by bankers at Lazard.

A Co-op spokesman told Sky: “We can confirm that we’ve entered into a period of exclusivity with Nisa, which will provide the opportunity for us to carry out more detailed due diligence in the coming weeks.

“Following this period and subject to approval from our board, we hope to be in position where we can put forward an offer to Nisa members.”