
Share
25th April 2019
08:50am BST

The chair of the inquiry group at CMA, Stuart McIntosh, explained: “It’s our responsibility to protect the millions of people who shop at Sainsbury’s and Asda every week,”
“Following our in-depth investigation, we have found this deal would lead to increased prices, reduced quality and choice of products, or a poorer shopping experience for all of their UK shoppers.
“We have concluded that there is no effective way of addressing our concerns, other than to block the merger.”
Had the deal gone through it would have resulted in the UK's biggest supermarket chain, with Asda and Sainsbury's (second and third biggest in market share respectively) leapfrogging Tesco, which currently holds a 27.4% share of the grocery market.
Asda currently has a 15.4% share whilst Sainsbury's are close behind with 15.3%.
Sainsbury’s CEO Mike Coupe said: “The CMA’s conclusion that we would increase prices post-merger ignores the dynamic and highly competitive nature of the UK grocery market. The CMA is today effectively taking £1 billion out of customers’ pockets".
The supermarket did, however, confirm that they wouldn't be appealing the decision.
Explore more on these topics: