Waitrose-Morrisons deal to go ahead

REGULATORS have cleared the way for Waitrose to buy 19 stores from supermarket chain Morrisons.

The Office of Fair Trading said it will not refer the proposed acquisition by Waitrose's owner, John Lewis Partnership, of 19 one-stop stores to the Competition Commission.

The group will pick up 19 of the 52 stores that Morrisons has been forced to sell as a result of its £3bn takeover of Safeway.

The price has not been disclosed but will be in excess of the £158m at which they were valued on Morrisons' books.

The deal adds to Waitrose's portfolio of 144 stores and gives the upmarket chain a foothold in the north of England. Up to now, it had no stores north of Newark, Nottinghamshire.

The move also means that some pockets of the South East get a Waitrose for the first time.

Safeway stores in Fulham in London, Farnham in Surrey, Worthing in Sussex and Dartford, Kent will all be converted to the Waitrose brand.

Under the terms of Morrisons' takeover of Safeway, it has to divest 52 stores before 8 September 2004.

Sainsbury is buying 13 Safeway stores and one Morrisons outlet.