UK grocery retail group Somerfield has said it has decided to appeal against a ruling by the Competition Commission that it should sell 12 of 115 stores that it had acquired from rival Wm Morrison Supermarkets.


Somerfield said it had decided to “appeal against the rationale behind the finding that there has been a substantial lessening of competition in all twelve of the affected locations, the direction to divest specific stores rather than any store within the relevant catchment and the restriction imposed on the category of retailers to whom the stores may be divested”.


Somerfield bought the stores from Morrisons last October in a deal worth around £260m (US$459.5m).