Yet another Morrisons thread

[bilky asko]

Not a fan of the new More card scheme. Can’t be bothered with this opting in to deals faffing that it seems like all loyalty schemes now do.

Nor me, and having looked the offers are 10% off 3 products I've never bought and have no interest in.

I haven't done too badly from it with my initial offers - some of the offers appear to be continuations of the sort I'd get before (money off milk and Pepsi), and one was for a free packet of Morrisons The Best crisps (at a value of £1).

Out of my current five, three will be definitely used on my next shop without making any new purchases, and they're all the best discounting ones at 15% off.

[thegeek]

Private equity are reportedly circling Morrisons, with the help of Terry Leahy.

[Whataday]

Morrisons: Supermarket agrees £6.3bn takeover

Supermarket chain Morrisons has accepted a £6.3bn ($8.7bn) takeover bid by a US investment group led by the owner of Majestic Wines.

Last month, the supermarket group turned down an offer from a different firm, saying it had significantly undervalued the business.

Morrisons chairman, Andrew Higginson, said the new offer was fair, and the chain would "continue to prosper".

Morrisons has nearly 500 shops and employs about 118,000 people in the UK.

The deal is subject to shareholder approval but the supermarket group's directors are recommending it is unanimously voted for.

The takeover is led by US private equity group Fortress Investment Group.

Under the terms of the deal shareholders will receive 254p per share - which Morrisons said was a 42% premium on its share price before the offer period - brought about with the disclosure of the rejected offer.

The UK's fourth largest supermarket group turned down the bid worth £5.5bn from Clayton Dublier & Rice in June.

Mr Higginson said the supermarket's "performance through the pandemic" had improved its standing and enabled it to enter discussions with Fortress from "a hard-won position of strength".

He said it was clear to the supermarket's directors that Fortress had a "full understanding and appreciation of the fundamental character of Morrisons".

BBC business correspondent Katy Austin said discussions had been going on for some time and that she understood that a series of commitments - including on pay and property - had been significant in the Morrisons board's decision.

Joshua A Pack, managing partner at Fortress, said the group was committed to being "good stewards of Morrisons".

Fortress's bid is backed with funding by the Canada Pension Plan and Koch Real Estate Investments - part of Koch Industries.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-57705253

[WillPS]

Hard to see what difference the takeover will actually bring about. The chain is probably in the best place its been in since the Safeway acquisition, it'll be interesting to see if the strategy they are persuing and the management currently in place really do stay as now.

[WillPS]

Reminder that tomorrow (9th) is the last day to print More vouchers.

[Martin Phillp]

Morrisons will close on Boxing Day to allow staff a 2 day break as reward for working during the pandemic.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58167627

[Dr Lobster*]

weren't most shops always closed on Boxing Day? I remember the adverts for the Boxing Day DFS sofa sales, but I can't ever remember during my childhood (1980s / early 1990s) that much was open on Boxing Day. One of the things which is nice about Christmas Day and Easter Sunday is nearly everything is closed... we could do with a couple more days like that, imo.

[WillPS]

weren't most shops always closed on Boxing Day? I remember the adverts for the Boxing Day DFS sofa sales, but I can't ever remember during my childhood (1980s / early 1990s) that much was open on Boxing Day. One of the things which is nice about Christmas Day and Easter Sunday is nearly everything is closed... we could do with a couple more days like that, imo.

Newp, you're not imagining things. New Years Day was the same story, I remember going to town on NYD in the early-00s, and the only non-convenience shop that was open was Virgin Megastores (which was ridiculously busy considering).

By the time I was working in a shop in that same town in 2005 it was around 50/50, and by the time I stopped working in retail (2010) they were like normal shopping days.

I agree though, it's a shame that there isn't more to protect those days, but I can see why it'd be rock and a hard place to legislate upon.

[Martin Phillp]

Boxing Day in London used to be a special service on public transport with buses running further out than usual as the shops would be closed and the roads almost as quiet as Christmas Day. It's now got to the point where a standard Sunday service operates to ensure shoppers can get around with a later start on most routes.

Most National Rail services don't operate on Boxing Day still, but London Overground usually get at least two lines open.

[woah]

Morrisons have been replacing their prehistoric pay at pump terminals with some new Inventec ones which are far better. I'd say I won't miss inserting my More card into the old terminals 17 times to try and get my points - but those days are gone anyway!

Their fuel station near me got new pumps recently which originally had the same terminals that Tesco and Asda use - but they've replaced these with the same Inventec ones rolled out elsewhere. Those ones kept offering More points even after they were discontinued - sadly no points were forthcoming though.

[rdobbie]

Morrisons receipts are still inexplicably featuring the More Card points balance which became null and void on 9 May 2021 when points ceased to be awarded.

It must be an irritating reminder to people who were just shy of hitting the 5k redemption threshold when the axe fell.