{"id":17894,"date":"2019-04-25T15:59:21","date_gmt":"2019-04-25T14:59:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=17894"},"modified":"2020-11-12T12:56:50","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T12:56:50","slug":"merger-sainburys-asda-blocked","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=17894","title":{"rendered":"Merger off"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Unite welcomed the decision by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) which today (April 25) brings an end to the proposed merger between Sainsbury\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s and Asda.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The CMA said it had blocked the merger because it was concerned that the tie-up would lead to higher prices for consumers both at supermarkets and their petrol stations, while also likely creating longer queues.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The scrapping of the proposed merger puts an end to what would have been the creation of the largest UK supermarket chain \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00c2\u01411 out of every \u00c2\u01413 spent on groceries in the UK is spent at either Sainsbury\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s or Asda.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The competition watchdog earlier this year expressed doubts about Sainsbury\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s and Asda\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pledge that the merger would enable them to cut costs that would be handed down to consumers as price cuts.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When the CMA expressed its concerns, the two supermarket chains said that it would guarantee \u00c2\u01411bn in consumer cost savings<\/a> through an independent guarantor.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But chair of the CMA\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s inquiry group Stuart McIntosh told the BBC<\/a> that he was doubtful of the price cut guarantees.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“Those promises were based on cost savings which we don’t think are likely to be realised,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bAlso those price promises are very likely to be difficult to track in practice.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

These doubts were echoed by Warwick Business School professor John Colley, who told the Guardian<\/em> in February<\/a> that it was highly doubtful that consumers would benefit.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bMajor savings through the merger in terms of reduced overheads, buying prices, and store closures will not be passed onto consumers,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he warned. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt seems the only major beneficiaries of this merger would be the Asda-Sainsbury\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s shareholders.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sainbury\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s boss Mike Coupe, came under fire last year for\u00c2\u00a0being caught on camera singing the Broadway tune \u00e2\u20ac\u0098We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re in the money\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0before an ITV interview about the merger.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite, which has 12,000 members between Sainsbury\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s and Asda, has long been critical of the merger<\/a>, especially over what it would mean for workers, who would likely face store closures and job losses.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite has also spoken out against the failure of the CMA to consider the effects the merger would have on the workforce, especially at a time of severe concern about food security and rising prices due to Brexit uncertainty.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Commenting, Unite national officer Bev Clarkson said, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bSainsbury\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s workers will welcome news that the proposed merger with Asda is off.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe merger and the possibility of store closures and job losses as a result has been unsettling, causing great uncertainty at a time when the supermarket has imposed changes to contracts that have left many workers out of pocket,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she\u00c2\u00a0added.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bStaff will now look to senior management to give them certainty so they can concentrate on serving customers.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Unite welcomed the decision by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) which today (April 25) brings an end to the proposed merger between Sainsbury\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s and Asda.   The CMA said it had blocked the merger because it was concerned that the tie-up would lead to higher prices for consumers both at supermarkets and their petrol […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":63,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[1121,870,505],"wps_subtitle":"Unite welcomes competition watchdog\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s decision to block Sainsbury\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s-Asda merger","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17894"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17894"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17894\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25329,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17894\/revisions\/25329"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/63"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}