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Morrisons’ new owners green light plans to sell £500m worth of property

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A spate of recent private equity interest in the UK's supermarkets has prompted the chair of the parliamentary business committee to question whether the competition watchdog has sharp enough teeth to deal with such bids.

Morrisons’ new owners have rubber stamped plans to sell a £500m property portfolio including manufacturing and distribution facilities.

According to Sky News, the supermarket is preparing to appoint advisers to oversee the disposal of certain sites across the country.

It comes just months after New York’s Clayton Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) took over the grocer in a £7bn takeover. 

City sources told Sky News the plans had been mulled for some time and now a formal process was anticipated to begin imminently.

The grocer was the subject of a fierce buy-out battle last year with CD&R ultimately beating a consortium led by Fortress Investment Group.

It comes as the grocer warned its sales and core profit may be dented this year due to shoppers cutting back amid rising inflation and conflict in Ukraine.

The supermarket said on Monday: “We are taking steps to mitigate the impact of these developments on our EBITDA (core earnings) for the remainder of the year.

“Unless these conditions improve, the impact of these developments could have a material adverse effect on our sales and EBITDA for the year.”