The supermarket chain has beaten a rival offer from EG Group which is owned by billionaire Issa brothers.
The threat of McColl's going into administration had raised fears that if a buyer was not found there could be UK-wide store closures and job losses.The companies battled it out over the weekend. Morrisons matched EG Group's offer to pay off McColl's debts in full and straight away and take on all its stores and staff.
Meanwhile, the Issa brothers co-own supermarket chain Asda, while their EG Group owns thousands of petrol stations and convenience shops in the UK, Ireland, Europe, Australia and the US.This is undoubtedly a good outcome for McColl's and its staff. Morrisons has to figure out what to do with quite a lot of underperforming stores and old-fashioned newsagents where it's harder these days to make money selling cigarettes and booze.It had offered on Thursday only to take on "the vast majority" of stores and staff. It's had to fight tooth and nail to win, matching EG's pledges.As McColl's future hung in the balance questions arose around what would happen to its two defined benefit pension schemes.
He said he did not know if Morrisons would keep all of McColl's stores but that it had committed to take them on for now.
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