The owner of convenience chain Costcutter, Costcutter Supermarkets Group, has rejected a £15 million takeover bid from Britain's The Co-operative Group, according to The Times.
According to reports, the offer was rebuffed many weeks ago. The deal would have created a retail chain of more than 4,000 stores.
The two chains had recently struck a wholesale agreement in November, following the collapse of the Palmer and Harvey wholesale group.
The deal sees the Co-op supplying 2,200 convenience stores across the UK, including Costcutter, Mace, Simply Fresh, Supershop, and kwiksave.
According to The Times report, the Co-op declined to comment and Bibby Line, the owner of Costcutter, couldn't be contacted at the time.
Industry Consolidation
Other retailers have been pairing up in an effort to create a stronger negotiating position with suppliers. Last week, British and French retail giants Tesco and Carrefour announced a long-term purchasing alliance in order to reduce costs.
The same week, European retailers Casino, Auchan, Metro, and Schiever Group created a new purchasing alliance, dubbed 'Horizon'.
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Karen Henderson. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
