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Arena Magazine 2004 Issue 1 |
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Safeway/Morrison to merge by March
Northern based retailer Morrisons is expected to finalise its takeover of Safeway by March after a protracted 14 month, £3 billion, takeover battle.
Shareholders of both companies will be asked to agree the deal formally at a meeting in February, with the combined group due to start trading the following month.
General Secretary Sir Bill Connor welcomed the news. "It's been a very unsettling period for our members in Safeway," he said. "I'm pleased it looks like everything is going to be sorted out sooner rather than later."
The tie-up will create a credible fourth player in the cut-throat supermarket sector to rival market leader Tesco, Asda/Wal Mart and Sainsbury. There are no job losses expected in the stores, although 53 have to be sold because of competition restrictions.
However, Morrisons has said that it will close the Safeway head office in Hayes with a loss of around 1,200 jobs. The head count at its head office in Bradford will grow to meet the extra demand.
The combined group will have 552 stores operating across the UK. Usdaw has around 35,000 members employed in the two companies.
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