Asda to open Express convenience stores in bid to gain market share October 18, 2022 Asda will open its first convenience stores this winter, as the supermarket hopes to appeal to more shoppers on the go. The first Asda Express store will open in Sutton Coldfield next month, followed by a store in Tottenham Hale in December. Some 30 more stores will be rolled out across 2023, in a scheme [...]
Boots sales surpass pre-Covid levels as city centres spring back to life October 13, 2022 Boots’ retail sales have exceeded pre-Covid levels for the fourth quarter, thanks to rebounding footfall in city centres. Retail sales were up 15.2 per cent on a like-for-like basis, with stores near transport hubs seeing a particular resurgence. Warm weather and a return of travel abroad also buoyed sales, with store transactions up more than [...]
Apollo and Reliance Industries join forces to make binding bid of up to £6bn for chemist Boots June 9, 2022 Private equity firm Apollo and Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries have made a binding bid for high street chemist Boots, it has been reported. According to the Financial Times, the offer values the company at between £5bn and £6bn, two sources familiar with the deal told the newspaper. US owner Walgreens Boots Alliance had been looking [...]
Walgreens faces losing billions on Boots sale as former suitors CVC and Bain suggest lower price tag April 11, 2022 The US pharmacy giant behind Boots could lose out on billions after the chemist was valued much lower than initially hoped. Walgreens has been eyeing a £7bn sale of the UK company, however a consortium involving private equity firms CVC and Bain withdrew from takeover talks in March. According to The Telegraph, the two former [...]
Boots: ‘Lipstick effect’ boost to sales as cash-strapped shoppers help chemist post record-breaking Black Friday sales figures January 5, 2023 High street stalwart Boots saw sales jump in its stores over its Christmas trading period, as the return of tourism and office-working proved a shot in the arm for its city locations. The privately owned chemist said like-for-like retail sales leapt 8.7 per cent in its first quarter to November, marking record-breaking sales on Black [...]
Boots’ owner ditches plans for £5bn sale of chemist as market conditions ‘beyond our control’ June 28, 2022 Boots’ US owner has confirmed it has given up on its ambitions to sell the UK chemist after a beleaguered sales process. Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) has opted to retain ownership of Boots, with the firm citing “unexpected and dramatic change” felt by the global financial markets in the past few months. A statement from [...]
Premier League deal: Fast-growing sportswear brand owned by Andy Murray signs up Wolverhampton Wanderers May 21, 2021 Fast-growing UK sportswear brand Castore, which is part owned by Sir Andy Murray, has agreed its first kit deal with a Premier League club. The company will now supply Wolverhampton Wanderers in a multi-year partnership thought to be worth several million pounds. It comes less than a week after it was disclosed that the Liverpool-based [...]
Walmart selects billionaire brothers as preferred bidders for Asda September 28, 2020 US retail giant Walmart has selected a consortium led by the billionaire brothers behind petrol station chain EG Group with private equity firm TDR Capital as the preferred bidder to buy Asda. The deal would value the UK supermarket chain at more than £6.5bn, Sky News reported. The broadcaster said that Mohsin and Zuber Issa, [...]
Sunday Times Rich List 2017: The wealth of Britain’s billionaires has boomed despite Brexit, but Mike Ashley, Sir Philip Green and Selfridges owning Weston family lose millions May 7, 2017 The wealth of Britain’s richest has rocketed with more billionaires than ever before, new figures reveal. Brexit failed to derail the rise of the super-rich and the collective cash of the world’s wealthiest topped a whopping £658bn – that’s up 14 per cent on last year. There are now 14 more billionaires in Britain than [...]
SEC admits Madoff error March 10, 2011 THE chairman of US market regulator the Securities and Exchange Commission admitted yesterday she should have done more to ensure her top attorney was not part of its work on the Bernard Madoff fraud. In an affair that is undermining the SEC’s calls for more funding, Schapiro told a congressional panel that, in hindsight, its [...]