Shareholder vote soon in Morrison battle

Hot bids: A worker pushes shopping trolleys through a Wm Morrison car park in Bradford. The fight for it reflects the continued interest in Britain’s supermarkets from foreign firms. — Bloomberg

LONDON: Wm Morrison Supermarkets Plc set an Oct 19 deadline for shareholders to vote on the hotly contested £7bil (US$9.6bil or RM40.21bil) takeover proposal by United States private equity firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice LLC (CD&R).

Britain’s fourth-largest grocer published documents saying when shareholders will decide the outcome of what could be the country’s largest take-private deal in a decade.