SandpiperCI has been in partnership with Nisa for more than 30 years and signed their latest five-year deal – worth an estimated £75 million – to supply Channel Island shops with groceries in November 2015.
But now that Nisa is up for sale, the future of who will run that supply chain is unclear with Sainsbury’s – Britain’s second-largest supermarket group – having suspended bid talks with the wholesaler until it has a clear idea of the competition regulator’s feelings about ongoing takeovers in the supermarket industry.
In the meantime, the UK media has also reported that the Co-operative Group is also interested in buying Nisa and has reaffirmed its interest after the Sainsbury’s deal stalled.
However, a deal with the Co-op – which is run independently from the Channel Island Co-operative Society – could present its own potential competition issues locally.
CICRA, the Channel Islands’ competition watchdog, said: ‘To date CICRA has not received an application for approval in connection with this possible transaction. If or when such an application is received, and meets the threshold for approval, it will be dealt with in the usual manner which includes registering it on our website and being subjected to a period of public consultation.
‘If the transaction meets this threshold the parties would need to seek CICRA approval before completing any acquisition at which point CICRA would investigate the merger and its impact on consumer choice, value and access to high quality services in the Channel Islands.’
Meanwhile, a spokesman for Sandpiper said the company was aware that Nisa was up for sale but preferred not to comment further.
Reportedly Sainsbury’s has stalled the deal until the Competition and Markets Authority publishes provisional findings of its probe of Tesco’s proposed £3.7 billion takeover of the wholesale provider Booker. That report from the CMA is due to be published at the end of October.
Sainsbury’s has reportedly offered to pay £130 million for Nisa, whose members operate about 2,500 stores around the British Isles.
Some of those stores operate under the Nisa brand while others, such as those in Jersey run by Sandpiper, are run under their own names with Nisa supplying the stock and guidance and retail support.
