Shareholders have backed Tesco’s £4 billion takeover of Booker, effectively clearing away the final hurdle to the combination of Britain’s biggest supermarkets group with the country’s leading wholesaler (The Times £). The tie-up was expected to be knocked back by some shareholders after a number of institutional investors and shareholder advisory firms had come out against it (The Financial Times £). Now that it has support from shareholders, the takeover is expected to complete on 5 March (Sky News).

The chief executive of Unilever received a 39 per cent pay rise last year, boosted in part by a stronger share price after the aborted $143bn bid last year by Kraft Heinz, the US food group (The Financial Times £). It marks a big rise on his €7.7m pay package for 2016 (The Telegraph).

Ready-meals maker Bakkavor has taken a £24million hit from the botched stock exchange listing led by its Icelandic founders. (The Daily Mail)

Toys R Us UK and Maplin both officially collapsed yesterday, and appointed Moorfields Advisory and PriceWaterhouse Coopers respectively as its administrators . ( The Times )

Retail watchers quickly dubbed yesterday as “Black Wednesday”, due to the two major chains failure, in a day which triggered memories of the financial crash a decade ago. (The Times )

Creditors ranging from landlords to suppliers are facing losses of more than £1 billion after the downfall of Toys R Us and Maplin. (The Times )

The restaurant chain Prezzo plans to close up to one-third of its 300 outlets across Britain, putting hundreds of jobs at risk as it joins a growing list of high street employers locked in a desperate battle to restructure their finances. ( Sky News )

Deliveroo is setting out steps to dramatically reduce the amount of plastic packaging that its takeaway meals are transported in.(Sky News )

Whitbread, the owner of Costa Coffee and Premier Inn Hotels, is pushing ahead with its international expansion, despite one of its largest investors demanding radical changes to the group. ( Financial Times )

Carpetright delivered more bad news for Britain’s high street , warning it would fall to a loss this year and was in talks with lenders to ensure that it doesn’t breach its loan terms. (The Telegraph )

In the United States, Walmart has joined the list of firearms retailers tightening its rules after a Florida school shooting, saying it would impose a new age restriction on buying guns and ammunition, requiring people to be over 21. (The Independent )

 

 

Topics