Supermarket chain set to expand with new supermarkets and Asda Living stores following acquisition of six Focus stores and approval from the OFT for Netto conversions.
The Walmart-owned supermarket chain today announced that it had received confirmation that the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) will not refer Asda's acquisition of Netto to the Competition Commission. As a result, Asda will now add 147 Netto stores to its portfolio, amounting to 1.2m sq ft of new space.

The firm is investing £100m into the conversion of these stores, which will trade under the Asda supermarket banner and will average around 8,000sq ft in size. The first converted stores will open in Worksop, Wakefield and Stainforth

Asda will open a further 21 stores before the year is out, adding 550sq ft of new space. The move is no doubt helped by the acquisition of six Focus stores last week. The chain plans to open seven new Asda superstores, four Asda Livings and ten new supermarkets, as well as extending five of its existing Asda stores.

Last May Asda announced that it had reached an agreement with Dansk Supermarked A/S to purchase Netto Foodstores Ltd, with its 193 outlets, for £778m. Asda agreed to sell 47 Netto stores in order for the OFT to clear the deal, however, the acquisition has been approved with 147 remaining.

Asda chief financial officer Judith McKenna said: "This combination of acquiring 147 Netto stores together with our organic growth plans means we will be able to save customers more money than ever before... I want to thank my colleagues sincerely both at Netto and Asda for their patience and dedication throughout. Since we announced our intention last May to purchase these stores, it has been a long drawn-out process. I'm confident, based on the plans in place, the integration will be a success."