Somerfield has confirmed its plans to expand into the convenience store market with the purchase of Scottish chain Aberness.
John von Spreckelsen, Somerfield’s executive chairman, said: “We have delivered our plans to expand our small store portfolio and our franchise operations.”
He said that Somerfield was determined to take part in the consolidation in the convenience store sector, which has seen Tesco snap up T&S Stores and Adminstore, and Sainsbury’s buy Bells.
Aberness, founded in 1857, owns and operates 36 convenience stores and has franchise arrangements with five further stores. The company also distributes groceries to 130 independent retailers, all of which operate under the Mace brand.
The company has net assets of £4.8 million, sales of £65.9m and made a pre-tax profit of £172,000 in the year to March 31, 2003.
Somerfield plans to retain Aberness’s management team but is likely to convert the stores to the Somerfield Express format. The group indicated that the deal would enhance earnings by about £1m.
Somerfield will also retain Aberness’s franchisees as part of a plan to build a national network.
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