Morrisons to land up to £50m from sale of M Local convenience stores

The grocer’s management team spent the weekend in negotiations with potential new owner Greybull Capital in an attempt to seal the deal before Morrisons updates on Thursday, according to The Telegraph. 

Convenience store veteran Mike Greene, who Retail Week revealed was spearheading the bid, wants to rebrand the 150-strong chain from M Local to My Local.

However, Morrisons could also face a multimillion-pound write-down on the deal owing to guarantees on its rental agreements.

The City expects Morrisons chief executive David Potts to reveal that pre-tax profits have dropped from £239m to £140.7m at this week’s interim results. It is believed revenues will have slipped from £8.5bn to £8.1bn.

Morrisons entered the convenience market under former chief executive Dalton Philips in 2012, but chairman Andy Higginson revealed in March that 30% of those were unprofitable. The grocer said it was closing 23 of the M Local stores with the loss of 300 jobs.

The sell-off would mark the latest in a string of changes being implemented by Potts, who has already swung the axe on his executive board, culled 720 head office jobs and hired 5,000 additional shopfloor staff.

Morrisons’ share price edged up last week on the back of speculation that South African tycoon Christo Wiese could make an acquisition in the UK grocery sector.