Asda to create jobs as it agrees supermarket sales

MORRISONS is to buy 16 Netto stores from the Danish discount supermarket chain’s Yorkshire owner Asda for £28.1m.

Asda is selling 47 of the 194 Netto stores it bought last year in order to meet the Office of Fair Trading’s concerns over competition and the move is seen as a major step forward to meet the OFT’s demands.

The completion of the deal by Bradford-based Morrisons to buy the stores will give it an extra 120,000 sq ft of retail space and add to its portfolio of 437 outlets.

Iceland is to buy three Netto stores and Haldanes 20 stores from Leeds-based Asda. Asda said it would be selling the remaining eight stores, one of which is in Keighley, it is required to dispose of in the coming months.

Fourteen Netto stores in Yorkshire and the Humber will be sold to the grocery retailers, who will continue to run them as food stores.

Subject to final OFT approval, 43 Netto stores in Yorkshire and the Humber will be converted to Asda supermarkets by late autumn, Asda said yesterday, in a move which could create 430 new jobs in the region.

Judith McKenna, Asda’s chief financial officer, who led the deal, said: “We’re delighted that we’re one step closer to welcoming hundreds of Netto colleagues here in our heartland of Yorkshire and Humber into Asda, and look forward to welcoming many more in 2011.”

Dalton Philips, chief executive of Morrisons, said: “These additional stores are an important next step in Morrisons’ growth. 

“We are building on our strategy to bring Morrisons’ unique offer of freshly prepared, affordable food to more people in Britain. 
 
“We look forward to welcoming the new colleagues employed at the Netto stores as they transfer to Morrisons under TUPE regulations.”

The handover of the stores to Morrisons is expected to take place in March, and will be completed over three months.

The addition of Netto stores to Asda’s regional portfolio will give the retailer 70 stores in Yorkshire and the Humber.