Insight - Why buyout firms are battling to buy UK’s Morrisons

Interest in the chain, which has recently notched up market share in Britain’s cut-throat grocery business, partly reflects private equity’s new-found passion for UK Plc, as the nation rebounds faster than expected from Brexit and the Covid-19 crisis. (File pic: A flag flies outside a Morrisons supermarket in New Brighton, Britain, July 5, 2021. - Reuters)

AT least three private equity groups armed with foreign cash have lined up to do battle over Morrisons, a British supermarket with a big property portfolio and a deal with Amazon that could help scale-up its lagging online offering.

Interest in the chain, which has recently notched up market share in Britain’s cut-throat grocery business, partly reflects private equity’s new-found passion for UK Plc, as the nation rebounds faster than expected from Brexit and the Covid-19 crisis.