Tesco has sealed its £3.7bn takeover of retailer and wholesaler Booker this morning, just over a year after it was first revealed.
In separate statements to the London Stock Exchange, Tesco and Booker confirmed the recommended share and cash merger would become effective as of 8am.
As previously revealed by Tesco, the deal sees Booker boss Charles Wilson become chief executive of the grocer’s retail and wholesale operations in the UK and Ireland with immediate effect.
Former Booker chairman Stewart Gilliland has also joined the Tesco board as a non-executive director.
Over 1.5 billion new Tesco shares issued in connection with the merger will become part of the supermarket giant’s greater LSE listing as of this morning.
The merger overcame its final hurdle last week after Tesco and Booker shareholders voted overwhelmingly to approve the agreement.
The deal had previously been given the green light by the Competition and Markets Authority in December last year.
When details of the shock deal were first unveiled to the City last January, Tesco said it expected to achieve pre-tax synergies of at least £200m per annum by the end of the third year following completion of the merger.
The supermarket giant predicts cost synergies of at least £175m from areas such as procurement and distribution, with a further £25m per year coming from “an enhanced offering and customer proposition”.
Earlier this year, it was rumoured that Tesco could leverage its enhanced buying power to launch a discount chain to rival Aldi and Lidl.
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