Morrisons is planning to sell £600m of its warehouses as its new owner looks to release cash from the business.
Clayton Dubilier & Rice, which picked up the supermarket chain in a £7bn takeover last year, is planning to sell around two dozen Morrisons warehouses and food manufacturing plants. BNP Paribas has been hired to market the properties.
When CD&R took control of the business it promised that it did not plan to “engage in any material store sale-and-leaseback transactions”. It seems the vital word here is “store” and, insiders point out that pledge is only valid for 12 months after the sale anyway.
