Sainsbury's and Asda announce merger

Sainsbury’s and Asda, respectively the UK’s second and third largest supermarkets, have finalised a £10 billion (€11.34 billion) merger agreement that will create the country’s largest supermarket chain ahead of the market leader Tesco.

Between them, Sainsbury’s and Asda control more than 31% of the British grocery market while Tesco currently accounts for 27.6%.

Sainsbury’s will hold a 58% stake in the new company while the remaining 42% will be taken by Walmart, the owner of Asda since 1999.

The aim of the merger is to protect against the threat posed by Amazon, which is aggressively moving into the grocery market with a focus on home shopping.