Terms for the Costcutter merger with Nisa-Today's are being enhanced to make them more attractive to Nisa-Today's members, according to insiders.
A source close to the board said: "It was always the intention for merger proposals to be developed during the due diligence process." It is understood that the enhanced terms will address concerns voiced by wholesale and retail members and will be raised at a meeting of the holdings board on 20 June.
The Nisa Members Association is holding meetings across the UK, attended by retailers, and increasingly wholesalers, to discuss its fears with Nisa-Today's members. However, although Nisa-Today's had invited NMA representatives to meet the holdings board, the NMA wrote back this week refusing to meet unless the merger proposal was dropped. Then, it said, it would discuss other grievances predating the merger announcement, such as price increases for deliveries to retailers last year. In the letter posted on the NMA's web site, Mark Proudfoot, NMA chairman and joint MD of Top 50 retailer The Proudfoot Group, said: "We would attend a meeting on the basis that proposals for demutualisation and merger with Costcutter are abandoned and that the board is willing to recognise the role of the NMA in discussions on the future development of our company."
Nisa-Today's said the merger should be debated by the holdings board - and that trading issues should be discussed by the Nisa Retail Services board.
Many retailers remain undecided about the merger. Kishor Patel, who manages two Nisa stores in Houghton Regis, near Luton, said: "The NMA should meet the board and see what's really on the table, rather than simply not engaging in the debate. But any offer by the board has got to be significantly improved by addressing concerns about the share retailers will have in the new company and the level of debt it will have."?
A source close to the board said: "It was always the intention for merger proposals to be developed during the due diligence process." It is understood that the enhanced terms will address concerns voiced by wholesale and retail members and will be raised at a meeting of the holdings board on 20 June.
The Nisa Members Association is holding meetings across the UK, attended by retailers, and increasingly wholesalers, to discuss its fears with Nisa-Today's members. However, although Nisa-Today's had invited NMA representatives to meet the holdings board, the NMA wrote back this week refusing to meet unless the merger proposal was dropped. Then, it said, it would discuss other grievances predating the merger announcement, such as price increases for deliveries to retailers last year. In the letter posted on the NMA's web site, Mark Proudfoot, NMA chairman and joint MD of Top 50 retailer The Proudfoot Group, said: "We would attend a meeting on the basis that proposals for demutualisation and merger with Costcutter are abandoned and that the board is willing to recognise the role of the NMA in discussions on the future development of our company."
Nisa-Today's said the merger should be debated by the holdings board - and that trading issues should be discussed by the Nisa Retail Services board.
Many retailers remain undecided about the merger. Kishor Patel, who manages two Nisa stores in Houghton Regis, near Luton, said: "The NMA should meet the board and see what's really on the table, rather than simply not engaging in the debate. But any offer by the board has got to be significantly improved by addressing concerns about the share retailers will have in the new company and the level of debt it will have."?
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