Asda to take over Netto stores in UK

Supermarket giant Asda has announced plans to buy the UK stores of Danish discount retailer Netto for £778m.

Asda said that, pending approval from the Office of Fair Trading, it hoped to finalise the deal later in the summer.

Netto has 193 stores in the UK which will continue to trade under the Netto name for the time being but will come under the Asda brand by mid-2011.

Asda plans to integrate the stores into its new supermarkets division for shops smaller than 25,000 square feet.

Netto, currently owned by Dansk Supermarked, has operated in the UK since 1990.

"Customers will benefit from low prices on a significantly broader range of quality products, complemented by the wide range of services we offer in all our smaller stores," Asda chief executive Andy Clarke said.

Dansk Supermarked chief executive Erling Jensen said in a statement: "We have substantial opportunities for growth in Scandinavia and Northern Europe and believe that the time has come to focus our efforts on the development of our business in these countries."