SUPERMARKET group Safeway has agreed to be taken over by rival Morrisons in a £2.9bn deal, it was announced today.
The pair said the move would create a "dynamic national supermarket group" valued at £5.5bn, with combined sales of more than £12.6bn and a market share of 16.1 per cent.
The group would have 598 stores, including those in Malvern, Droitwich, Hereford, Bromsgrove and Leominster, with selling space of more than 14 million square feet.
The deal brings together the UK's fourth and fifth biggest supermarket groups.
Morrisons, based in Bradford, is the UK's fifth largest food retailer, with 119 stores mainly in the northern half of England, while Safeway, based in Hayes in Middlesex, is the fourth largest with 479 stores.
David Webster, chairman of Safeway, said: "In the last three years Safeway has turned around, adding 1.5 million customers and rebuilding profits.
"As our marketplace becomes increasingly competitive, a merger with Morrisons offers the best means of accelerating growth."
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