Billionaire Weston family buys Boots for $9bn October 7, 2026 The billionaire Weston family has struck a deal to buy Boots for nearly $9bn, scuppering hopes that the high street giant could return to the London Stock Exchange. Wittington Investments, the holding company for the Westons’ Canadian operations, said on Wednesday it will buy Boots from its private equity owners, Sycamore Partners. The deal brings [...]
Mike Ashley’s Frasers builds stakes in Burberry and Under Armour October 7, 2026 Frasers Group, the retail empire founded by Mike Ashley, has taken a stake in athleisure giant Under Armour and built up its holding in fashion house Burberry. The London-listed conglomerate, which owns Sports Direct and Flannels, has pushed up its position in the FTSE 100 fashion brand from 4.2 to 6.3 per cent of the [...]
Sainsbury’s merger talks mark end of supermarket big four October 7, 2026 It is approaching a decade since Mike Coupe, then Sainsbury’s boss, was caught on a hot mic singing “we’re in the money” as his supermarket announced its impending takeover of rival grocer Asda. He was forced to apologise for the outburst, which was caught on camera while he waited to be interviewed by ITV News. “This [...]
Asos shares crater after ‘hackers’ threaten data leak October 6, 2026 Asos shares have tumbled after customers were told the online fashion seller’s systems had been “fully compromised” by hackers. Users of the Asos app received a push notification on Tuesday morning titled “ASOS HACKED”, in an apparent attempt by the attackers to contact the company’s data protection and IT teams. Asos said on Tuesday afternoon [...]
Could an exit from Europe bolster Tesco’s UK dominance? October 6, 2026 Like a student nearing the end of their gap year, Tesco has careened across Europe, Asia, even the United States, and is now preparing to return home and settle down. The supermarket chain, the UK’s largest, is weighing up whether to offload its operations in Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, with grocery rival Lidl [...]
A Dram with Paddy Fletcher October 6, 2026 Instead of erecting yet another Highland whisky ’shed’, Paddy Fletcher and Ian Stirling hit the scene with their dramatic, vertical Port of Leith distillery in 2023. This restless pair have also embraced gin, Scotch RTDs and launched a new whisky bar as Ian Fraser discovers … Despite developing an early taste for Tè Bheag, the [...]
Sainsbury’s and Morrisons held talks over blockbuster merger October 5, 2026 Sainsbury’s walked away from talks over a merger with smaller rival Morrisons earlier this year, shelving what would have been the biggest shake-up of the UK’s grocery market in decades. The UK’s second-largest supermarket chain held preliminary talks with its private-equity-owned rival over a merger of the two firms between November 2025 and February this [...]
Mary Kay Introduces the K-Beauty Texture Edit October 5, 2026 Special-Edition Korea-Made Skin Care Collection Launches In 40 Markets, Available While Supplies Last
Lidl doubles down on loyalty pricing despite Aldi attacks October 5, 2026 Lidl grew its profit and revenue last year after pulling in an additional 43m shopping trips, as the discount grocer doubled down on its loyalty price scheme. The German firm and rival Aldi have swept to dominance of the budget grocer market in recent decades, but Aldi has hit out at its competitors for allegedly [...]
Slate Asset Management and OneIM Agree to Acquire Portfolio of Grocery-Anchored Essential Real Estate in the Greater Oslo Region Valued at Approximately €250 Million October 5, 2026 Slate Asset Management (“Slate”), a global investor and manager focused on essential real estate and infrastructure assets, and One Investment Management (“OneIM”), a global alternative investment manager, today announced they have agreed to acquire a portfolio of eight grocery-anchored retail parks in Norway from Tellus Eiendom AS. The portfolio is located in the Greater Oslo [...]