Walmart has asked suitors for its UK grocery unit Asda to submit second-round bids by early September, according to people familiar with the matter, as it forges ahead with a revived sale of the business.
Private equity firms Apollo Global Management, Lone Star Funds and TDR Capital are considering binding offers by the deadline, the people said. Asda could fetch around $10 billion (Dh36.7bn) in any sale, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private.
Other potential buyers could also emerge, the people said. Representatives for Walmart, Asda and the potential bidders declined to comment.
Apollo, Lone Star and TDR each submitted offers for Asda earlier this year and were invited to join a second round of bidding, Bloomberg News reported in March. Weeks later, Walmart shelved the process to focus management’s attention on running the business amid unprecedented demand from consumers stockpiling for the Covid-19 lockdown.
Walmart said last week it was reviving the planned sale of Asda, which it has been seeking to offload for at least two years. It reached an agreement with rival supermarket chain J Sainsbury in 2018, only to see the proposed £7.3bn ($9.4bn/Dh34.2bn) deal blocked by UK antitrust authorities.
In its latest quarterly update, Asda said comparable sales jumped 3.5 per cent in the three months through March. Demand levels were so high it was receiving 3,500 visits a minute to its website in the week starting March 18, according to Asda.
EA Sports FC 25
Developer: EA Vancouver, EA Romania
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4&5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5
T20 World Cup Qualifier, Muscat
UAE FIXTURES
Friday February 18: v Ireland
Saturday February 19: v Germany
Monday February 21: v Philippines
Tuesday February 22: semi-finals
Thursday February 24: final
Sukuk explained
Sukuk are Sharia-compliant financial certificates issued by governments, corporates and other entities. While as an asset class they resemble conventional bonds, there are some significant differences. As interest is prohibited under Sharia, sukuk must contain an underlying transaction, for example a leaseback agreement, and the income that is paid to investors is generated by the underlying asset. Investors must also be prepared to share in both the profits and losses of an enterprise. Nevertheless, sukuk are similar to conventional bonds in that they provide regular payments, and are considered less risky than equities. Most investors would not buy sukuk directly due to high minimum subscriptions, but invest via funds.
Oscars in the UAE
The 90th Academy Awards will be aired in the UAE from 3.30am on Monday, March 5 on OSN, with the ceremony starting at 5am
Three ways to boost your credit score
Marwan Lutfi says the core fundamentals that drive better payment behaviour and can improve your credit score are:
1. Make sure you make your payments on time;
2. Limit the number of products you borrow on: the more loans and credit cards you have, the more it will affect your credit score;
3. Don't max out all your debts: how much you maximise those credit facilities will have an impact. If you have five credit cards and utilise 90 per cent of that credit, it will negatively affect your score.
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
