The deal will see the supermarket’s Express format rolled out across EG Group’s 356 petrol stations, taking Asda’s convenience store estate up to 478.

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EG Group has confirmed an agreement to sell to Asda most of its UK and Irland fuel, foodservice, grocery and merchandise business for £2.27bn.

Both companies are owned by Mohsin and Zuber Issa and the private equity firm TDR Capital and there have been reports that they have been working on a merger, which would create a £10bn business, for several months.

Merging the two firms creates a business with 600 supermarkets, 700 petrol forecourts and 100 convenience stores. Annual sales of the group would be around £30bn.

No significant redundancies would be expected as a result of a merger with Asda expected to retain its Leeds headquarters and EG its Blackburn base.

Last month Bloomberg said a merger would generate more than £100m of synergies between the two firms.

Asda has been involved in talks with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) over concerns that its takeover of the Co-op’s 132 forecourts could reduce competition in some local areas, and it has agreed to sell off 13 of the sites.

However, it is thought the CMA is less likely to get involved in the merger because it already considers the two businesses as one because of their shared ownership. The pair also share the same chair in former M&S boss Lord Rose.

The deal by Mohsin and Zuber Issa and TDR to acquire Asda was investigated by the CMA and EG Group was required to sell off 27 sites to allay concerns that competition could be affected in the forecourt sector in local markets, as previously reported in IF&CR.

There was also a subsequent plan for EG Group to acquire Asda’s 320 petrol filling stations, car washes and ancillary land for £750m, but the deal was dropped in October 2021.

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Mondelez, which also makes Toblerone, Oreo and Tang, will also pay additional amounts to the sellers depending upon its earnings from Clif Bar.

The company said it will get the Clif, Luna and Clif Kid brands of bars in its portfolio through the acquisition, creating a $1 billion-plus global snack bar franchise for itself.

“Mondelēz International is the right partner at the right time to support Clif in our next chapter of growth,” Sally Grimes, chief executive of Clif Bar & Company said.

“Our purposes and cultures are aligned and being part of a global snacking company with broad product offerings can help us accelerate our growth,” she added.

Mondelez will continue to manufacture Clif’s products in its facilities at Twin Falls in Idaho and Indianapolis in Indiana, the company said.

Clif Bar’s acquisition marks the ninth deal since 2018 as Mondelez works towards reshaping its portfolio for higher long-term growth.

Mondelez expects organic net revenue to increase over 4% in 2022, while its long-term growth target is of more than 3%.

The deal is expected to close in the third quarter, the chocolate maker said.

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The acquisition of Poundshop.com is the next step in the transformation of Poundland and will provide the infrastructure to power a national roll-out of its own pilot ecommerce operation, the company said.

Founded in 2014, Poundshop.com has grown to be the UK’s largest online-only value retailer. Poundshop.com has almost 400,000 customers across the UK and 65 colleagues at its distribution centre and head office in Wednesbury, West Midlands, just a few miles from Poundland’s own customer support centre in Walsall.

Poundshop.com chairman, Steve Smith, and CEO Chris Maddox will act in an advisory capacity to help smooth the integration which will be led by Poundland retail and transformation director Austin Cooke who in turn will lead the day-to-day operation of Poundland’s online business.

The deal includes Poundshop.com’s intellectual property, its tried and tested online platform, the picking and fulfilment operations in Wednesbury and its customer database.

Poundland will retain all of the current Poundshop.com colleagues and during the integration process Poundshop.com will continue fulfilling customers’ orders as normal.

Expansion

Run by an experienced management team, Poundshop.com has expanded rapidly and last year alone saw sales more than double. It will continue trading under its own brand in the immediate term and will benefit from Poundland’s extended range and purchasing power to bring customers even more choice and value.

Poundland plans to build on the experience of Poundshop.com to develop further and scale up its own online operation which has started as a pilot in selected postcodes in Birmingham and Walsall and has now been successfully extended across the Midlands and into South Yorkshire.

Demand for Poundland’s pilot online service has been strong and has created excitement across the country for customers eager to access the service.

Helped by this acquisition, Poundland plans to widen its online offer, both in terms of ranges, adding PEP&CO clothing and homewares, and geographically, including extending beyond the UK and offering a Dealz online service for The Republic of Ireland.

After China and the US, the UK is the third-largest ecommerce market in the world, according to eMarketer’s research in 2022.  It has always enjoyed a high penetration of online shoppers alongside physical retail which still accounts for the majority of sales.

The acquisition will accelerate the pace of the company’s plans to make its offer available on the web and means customers nationwide can look forward to shopping with Poundland at the click of a button in the near future.

The rollout of the online offer complements the opening of new stores and the expansion of ranges – from PEP&CO clothing to chilled and frozen food – as Poundland brings value for money shopping to even more customers at a time when every pound counts.

Barry Williams, Poundland managing director, said: “It’s great to warmly welcome the Poundshop.com team to Poundland. This acquisition puts power and pace behind our aspirations to make our amazing products and value available to customers across the UK and Ireland, however they choose to shop.”

Poundshop.com sells branded consumer products priced between £1 and £5 and typically below high street prices.

While it appeals to a broad range of shoppers and age groups, three quarters of its customers are female, and is particularly popular with 25–44-year-olds.

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