UK supermarket group Wm Morrison has announced that it has exchanged contracts with discount retailer Lidl to sell the Safeway store in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire.
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Morrisons said the Safeway book value of the net assets attributable to the store is £5.34m (US$9.79m) and the consideration for the store is in line with Morrisons’ expectations. The deal is subject to the approval of the Office of Fair Trading (OFT).
Lidl plans to redevelop the site over a period of time.
Morrisons said it is also surrendering the lease on the Safeway store at Bond Street, Leeds, leading to its closure on 13 November.
“The landlord’s objection to a renewal of the existing lease made the sale of the store as a going concern commercially impractical and the Office of Fair Trading has therefore granted consent for the closure,” Morrisons said.
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By GlobalDataMorrisons was required to divest a total of 52 stores following the deal to acquire Safeway in undertakings given to the Office of Fair Trading in December 2003. Of the 47 disposals (conditional upon OFT approval) agreed to date, 45 will eventually count towards the required total of 52, with the other two being commercial disposals.
