Sainsbury’s Asda mega-merger to spark multiple store closures

Sainsbury’s and Asda could be forced to sell at least 73 stores and shut as many as 245 across the UK if their mega-merger goes ahead, according to Maximise UK. 

David Haywood, Founder of Maximise UK, told the BBC: “There hasn't been a retail deal like this in more than a decade. The real focus will be on how Sainsbury's and Asda's main supermarkets operate at a local level and how they overlap. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) will be concerned about whether the deal reduces the number of competing brands within a 10 or 15 minute drive time.”

The estimate of 73 closures is based on the CMA including Aldi and Lidl in its calculations. However, if it opts to exclude the discounters, Sainsbury’s and Asda could be forced to dispose of up to 245 stores. "Considering that 66% of the stores caught in the overlap analysis have selling areas over 20,000 sq ft, the key issue is who can actually acquire store locations of this size. They're typically too big for an Aldi or a Lidl,” said Haywood.

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