 share price ticked up on Monday, amid speculation the giant is set to acquire Nisa.){kind=link}
Sainsbury’s (LON:SBRY) share price ticked up on Monday, amid speculation the supermarket giant is set to acquire Nisa.
Shares in the UK supermarket rose 2.5 percent following reports it had put forward a £130 million bid for Nisa, the convenience store chain.
Nisa buys and distributes on behalf of more than 2,500 independently owned stores around the country, bringing in turnover of £1.43 billion.
This comes after previous speculation that the Co-operative had also been in talks to acquire the chain.
Last year, Sainsbury’s also purchased catalogue retailer Argos and furniture chain Habitat for £1.4 billion.
Back in May, the supermarket reported a 8.2 percent dip in pre-tax profits for the year, the first results since the acquisition.
Whilst the company maintained that its newly acquired Argos and Habitat locations continued to perform strongly, the group said profits were hit by rising prices and pound currency fluctuations.
The news follows the recent announcement of Tesco (LON:TSCO), the UK’s largest supermarket, merging with Booker foods (LON:BOK) in a deal worth £3.7 billion.
The deal is currently under scrutiny by the The Competition and Markets Authority to evaluate whether the deal will impact upon consumer choice and competition in local areas.
The first stage of the investigation is set to continue until the 25th of July.
“During this period, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) will assess whether the deal could reduce competition and choice for shoppers and other customers, such as stores currently supplied by Booker,” the CMA stated.
Should the CMA deem it necessary, Tesco may be required to offload stores before the deal can be formally finalised.
Large retailers such as Tesco and Sainsbury’s have been feeling the pressure from the rising force of more budget friendly alternatives Lidl and Aldi in recent years, as shoppers begin to tighten their purses.
Last month the latest data from Kantar Wordpanel revealed that Aldi and Lidl’s U.K market share hit 12 percent, with both supermarkets demonstrating their fastest levels of growth in two years.
Shares in Sainsbury’s are currently up 2.26 percent as of 16.44 PM (GMT).