Somerfield may have to sell Stores
Written by JDPGlobal | Tuesday, 26 July 2005
The British food group, Somerfield, might have to sell fourteen of its stores. The stores in question were bought from Morrisons.
The competition commission, connected to the department of trade and commerce, said that Morrisons was legally obliged to sell the stores as part of its own acquisition of Safeway in 2004.
Somerfield acquired 110 ex-Safeway shops for £258m, but the commission believes this reduced competition in fourteen of the towns; the stores located in these towns will be up for forced sale.
The commission has given Somerfield until the middle of next month to respond to the case.
