Retail

  Bloomberg Wm Morrison Supermarkets’ planned takeover of struggling UK convenience store-chain McColl’s Retail Group Plc will get a formal antitrust probe from Britain’s competition watchdog. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it had officially kicked off a merger inquiry into the deal to see whether it would result in a lessening of competition in the UK groceries market, …

  Bloomberg Sephora, the cosmetics retailer owned by LVMH, agreed to sell its Russian subsidiary, making it the latest brand to pull out of the country following its invasion of Ukraine. LVMH is selling Sephora’s Russia business to the local general manager, the company said. In early March, the group temporarily closed its Russian stores. Sephora’s exit comes as European …

  Bloomberg Gap Inc fired Chief Executive Officer Sonia Syngal after 2 1/2 years, with rising costs and deepening discounts threatening to wipe out this quarter’s operating profit. Chairman Bob Martin is taking over immediately as CEO on an interim basis, according to a statement. The stock has been battered amid missteps such as a clumsy implementation of expanded women’s …

  Bloomberg The billionaire Benetton family agreed to sell their controlling stake in highway restaurant operator Autogrill SpA to duty-free company Dufry AG, creating a $6 billion player in the travel retail market and accelerating the overhaul of the Italian industrial clan’s holdings. As part of the deal, the Benettons will sell their majority stake in Autogrill to become the …

Bloomberg The cost of Lurpak butter is emerging as the new flash point in Britain’s cost-of-living crisis, requiring security tags in stores and spawning a controversy that’s placed its owner, Arla Foods, on the defensive. “We understand that recent inflation in food prices is hitting many households really hard,” an Arla spokesperson said by email after the dairy firm’s Lurpak …

  Bloomberg Tesco Plc and food giant Kraft Heinz Co have settled a dispute over price increases which left the UK’s biggest supermarket chain without products including brand-name ketchup and baked beans. The full range of Heinz products will now return to Tesco shelves and its online shopping site in the coming days, the two companies said in a joint …

  Bloomberg J Sainsbury Plc held its profit forecast for the full year even as it warned that rising inflation means pressure on household budgets will intensify. Britain’s second-largest supermarket chain stuck to its forecast for the full year of underlying profit before tax of £630 million ($764 million) to £690 million. The grocer’s comparable sales, excluding fuel, fell 4% …

  Bloomberg Just Eat Takeaway.com NV’s shares jumped the most in almost four years after Amazon.com Inc agreed to take a stake in its Grubhub business. The stake is part of a partnership where Amazon will offer US Prime users a one-year membership to the food delivery service, the Dutch company said in a statement. The deal is a vital …

  Bloomberg Supermarket shoppers in Britain are increasingly opting for own-brand labels in a bid to save pennies on groceries. J Sainsbury Plc is seeing some customers switch into economy own-label goods and rival Tesco Plc said last month that clients are moving to store-brand versions of bread, pasta and beans. Households could save $649 a year by switching from …

  Bloomberg Fomento Economico Mexicano agreed to buy Switzerland-based convenience store operator Valora for as much as $1.2 billion to expand into Europe. Femsa, as the company is known, offered 260 francs a share, a premium of 52% to the closing price, the companies said. Valora climbed as much as 51% to 258 francs in early Swiss trading. Based in …