Asda buys 132 Co-op petrol forecourts across UK in £600m deal

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Asda has officially taken over 132 Co-op locations in a £600million deal. The Co-Op stores will remain separate from Asda whilst the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) carries out its enquiry into the deal.

Asda has yet to release a full list of Co-op sites that it is taking over.The acquisition, which was first announced in August, includes 129 retail stores with attached petrol stations, plus three development sites.The deal has a cash value of £438million but a total value of around £600million, inclusive of lease liabilities.

The 2,300 workers currently employed by The Co-op will be moved over to Asda.Each existing store is between 1,500 and 3,000 square feet in size and has petrol stations attached.The update comes after Asda announced plans to open its first standalone convenience stores.

The new format will be called Asda Express with stores opening in Sutton Coldfield on November 8 and Tottenham Hale, London, on December 6.Asda Express will be separate from the shops Asda is acquiring from the Co-op Group as well as the Asda On the Move convenience sites, which are located on garage forecourts owned and operated by EG Group.Mohsin Issa, co-owner of Asda said: "We are delighted to formally complete the transaction that we announced in August and taking the next step on our journey to creating a new and exciting part of our Asda business. "As millions of families deal with the day-to-day impacts of increasing costs of living, we're committed to bringing Asda's great value groceries and fuel to even more communities across the UK through these new stores. "Over the last five years we've been consistently ranked as one of the cheapest providers of fuel in the UK and have been voted the Grocer's best priced