SandpiperCI has been in partnership with Nisa for more than 30 years and signed their latest five-year deal – worth an estimated £75m – to supply Channel Island shops with groceries in November 2015.
If the takeover deal goes ahead the UK Co-op – which is run independently from the Channel Island Co-operative Society – will pay up to £137.5m over four years, £5.5m in costs and take on Nisa’s £105m debt. Nisa would remain a standalone business and brand.
The deal is subject to approval from the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority. The Channel Islands Competition and Regulatory Authorities has not received an application for approval in connection with the possible transaction but has said previously that it would investigate the merger and its impact on consumer choice, value and access to high quality services in the Channel Islands’ in due course if necessary.
Sandpiper, meanwhile, has said in the past it is aware that Nisa was up for sale.
Nisa chairman Peter Hartley said the board’s decision, which came after an earlier £130m deal with Sainsbury’s stalled, had been unanimous.
