Morrisons to take over bankrupt McColl’s after all

Morrisons will acquire the British convenience store chain McColl’s, which filed for bankruptcy last week, after all. The British supermarket chain promises to keep all shops and jobs, thus beating a rival bid by EG Group.

Improved offer

The ailing British convenience store chain McColl’s, which is burdened with debts of 100 million pounds (120 million euros), saw no other option than to file for bankruptcy last Friday. The creditors rejected a rescue plan from Morrisons, saying the offer did not contain enough guarantees.

But now it appears that the fourth largest British supermarket chain is going to make a deal with McColl’s after all, following an improved takeover bid that will retain all 1,100 shops and 16,000 jobs, and that will repay the creditors immediately and in full. Morrison will also take over McColl’s pension fund, Sky News reports. In this way, Morrison’s rivals EG Group, the petrol station operator which also owns British number two ASDA loses out.

Morrison and McColl’s have a shared history: the convenience store chain operates around 250 Morrisons Daily convenience stores and also sells Morrisons’ private label products.