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Asda buys UK Netto stores
ASDA has bought the Netto supermaket chain in the UK for £778m.
Netto has 193 stores, which will be converted to small Asda stores by next Summer, if regulators give the go-ahead.
Asda plans to employ up to twice as many staff in each of the stores it has acquired. It sees the move as an expansion into the small supermarkets sector.
Asda chief executive Andy Clarke said: “Customers will benefit from low prices on a significantly broader range of quality products, complemented by the wide range of services we offer in all our smaller stores.”
Danish budget supermarket Netto has operated in the UK since 1990.
It now plans to focus its growth on Scandinavia and Northern Europe.