J Sainsbury plc has purchased four stores from Somerfield for an undisclosed price.
Darren Shapland, Sainsbury's chief financial officer said: 'At the preliminary results in May 2006, we indicated we were actively seeking new sites to accelerate our store development programme. This acquisition is an example of the opportunities starting to emerge and we will continue to look for new sites across the UK.”
Shapland said in May that the supermarket planned to spend £1.3 billion over the next two years to boost the size and number of its UK stores.
Before this acquisition, the Sainsbury’s portfolio included 455 supermarkets and 301 convenience stores. The average size of the new stores is 20,000sqft.
All four new sites will re-open as Sainsbury's supermarkets this autumn and are expected to enhance results in this financial year.
Sainsbury’s has also bought a 35,000sqft store in Urmston, Manchester, part of a major town centre redevelopment expected to open in 2008.
