 jumped on Monday, after reports that Asda was considering making a bid for the group in a move to diversify.){kind=link}
Shares in discount retailer B&M (LON:BME) jumped on Monday, after reports that Asda was considering making a bid for the group in a move to diversify.
The takeover bid is likely to be worth around £4.4 billion, but has yet to be either confirmed or denied by Asda. It is understood that the major British supermarket is looking into buying B&M in an effort to combat competition from budget rivals Lidl and Aldi.
Several other British supermarkets have taken similar moves, with Sainsbury’s buying convenience store chain Nisa just a year after buying Argos for £1.4 billion. Tesco is in the process of finalising a deal with Booker, subject to concerns from the Competition and Markets Authority.
FTSE 250-listed B&M opened its doors in 1978 and has expanded at a rapid pace as British consumers looks for cheaper places to buy groceries. Britain’s Big Four supermarkets – Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons – have been forced to drop prices to compete with cheaper rivals, sending share prices down over the last year.
B&M have enjoyed significant success over the last couple of years, listing on the London stock exchange in 2014 and seeing rapid growth on the basis of word-of-mouth, with virtually no advertising. According to its figures, revenues grew 18 percent in the first quarter of 2017.
B&M shares are currently trading up 3.87 percent on the speculation, at 354.10 (1441GMT).