Morrisons has sold 13 of the stores it acquired through the Safeway takeover to rival chain Sainsbury's. The Yorkshire-based chain has also sold its rival a store in Ripon, North Yorkshire, which was Morrisons branded.
The new supermarket super-power is disposing of a string of stores to comply with anti-monopoly conditions set by the Competition Commission.
As a result, Sainsbury’s will take on 2,600 staff. Its UK shopfloor space will increase by around 3 per cent.
Such expansion opportunities "have become increasingly rare, and we're delighted to secure these stores," said Sainsbury's chief executive Justin King.
The book value of the 14 stores was £110m, according to Morrisons, although no financial details of the deal have been released.
Most of the stores changing hands are in the North of England and the Midlands.
• Meanwhile, Morrisons has named its first two non-executive directors, following years of holding out against corporate governance correctness.
Sir Ken Morrison has named David Jones, chairman of Next and Duncan Davidson, founder and chairman of Persimmon the Yorkshire builder.
Sir Ken said: “Both men have a wealth of experience and talent and a complete understanding of the culture that is so strong at Morrisons.”
Morrisons still falls short of compliance with the combined code of corporate governance which says that a third of a company’s board should be non-executive. When the two Yorkshire men join next week they will have seven executive directors and two non-executive directors.
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