C Butt hopeful. of Netto Asda takeover outcome
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NORTHAMPTON HAULIER C Butt is waiting to hear how it will he affected by the planned takeover of Netto, a major client, by supermarket rival Asda.
Asda, owned by US retailer WalMart, announced last week that it has reached an agreement with Dansk Supermarked to purchase its UK subsidiary, Netto Foodstores Limited.
C Butt won a five-year multi-millionpound distribution contract with Netto in September last year. The contract sees the Northampton-based firm distribute to 193 stores from Netto's distribution centres (DCs) at South Firma11, West Yorks and Daventry. Northants. Under the deal. C Butt corn
mined to a £9m investment in 63 trucks and 96 refrigerated trailers.
Karl Hodgkinson, operations director at C Butt, tells CM: "C Butt's MD and I are about to go to a meeting with Netto to discuss the future, but we hope the sale will be a positive move for us."
An Asda spokesman says it is too early to comment on how the acquisition will affect distribution operations.
Asda's acquisition of Netto remains subject to regulatory approval, hut if it gets the go-ahead from the Office of Fair Trading this summer, all 193 Netto stores in the UK are expected to trade under the Asda banner by summer 2011. Until official approval is granted, it will continue operations as usual under existing management.