A management team led by the retail entrepreneur Mike Greene and backed by the family investment office Greybull Capital LLP has purchased the M Local store chain from Morrisons.
The new team plans to develop the chain as an independent and profitable business, rebranded under the name ‘My Local’, with a renewed commitment to the communities and customers it serves.
With 24 hours of announcing the move, Greene also confirmed a five year deal distribution deal with Nisa worth up to £1bn.
This represents one of the largest recent supply deals in the convenience sector, and will make the newly-created independent convenience store group one of Nisa’s major customers.
Mike Greene said: “We are delighted to have reached agreement with Morrisons to acquire its convenience stores. The convenience sector continues to grow ahead of larger supermarkets as people’s hectic lifestyles increasingly lead them to favour more frequent, smaller and top-up shops. We are inheriting a set of good stores with highly trained teams of colleagues. With a new strategy tailored to the convenience sector, ‘My Local’ is confident of a profitable and sustainable future.”
The agreement is to acquire 140 M Local convenience stores across the UK. The network employs around 2,300 people. There will be no store staff redundancies as a result of the proposed acquisition and up to 200 new jobs will be created as management re-opens 10 stores that are currently closed.
Greene added: “We are committed to the people who already work in the stores and we want to grow the business with them. We believe that their potential, combined with the expertise of our leadership team, will give us a distinct advantage in the sector.”
Subject to successful completion, the senior management team will become shareholders in the new business. They will have a significant holding alongside majority shareholder Greybull Capital LLP.
Greybull partner Nathaniel Meyohas said: “We are delighted to acquire Morrisons’ convenience store estate and we have every confidence that it will thrive under the leadership of Mike Greene and his highly experienced team. We are grateful for Morrisons’ support in completing this transaction to the benefit of all parties.”
