Sainsbury’s has offered £1.4 billion for Home Retail Group, following its South African bidding rival pulling out of the process. The British supermarket had previously been engaged in a standoff with Steinhoff International, which decided ultimately to pull out of the process with just over two hours until the deadline.
In a statement, Sainsbury’s said that its offer represents a “compelling opportunity” to create a leading food and non-food retailer of choice for customers, building on the strong heritage of both the Sainsbury's and HRG businesses. The combined group will benefit from both businesses retail space as well as raising the possibility of re-locating Argos stores into Sainsbury's supermarkets.
Commenting on the offer, David Tyler, chairman of Sainsbury's said: “The UK grocery retail industry is undergoing a period of intense change in customer shopping behaviour and in the competitive environment. Against this backdrop, Sainsbury's has performed resiliently by offering great quality products at fair prices, by providing a differentiated service, and by developing strong multi-channel capabilities. All of this continues to be underpinned by our core values.
“This combination with HRG presents an opportunity to accelerate our strategy, delivering compelling revenue and cost synergies. We will create a multi-product, multi-channel proposition with fast delivery networks that we believe will be very attractive to the customers of both businesses."
