THIS
ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSES OF
ARTICLE 7 OF THE MARKET ABUSE REGULATION (EU) 596/2014 AS IT
FORMS PART OF UK DOMESTIC LAW BY VIRTUE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
(WITHDRAWAL) ACT 2018, AS AMENDED.
For immediate release
30 April 2024
MORRISONS ANNOUNCES CLOSING
OF THE SALE OF PETROL FORECOURTS TO MFG
WM MORRISON SUPERMARKETS LIMITED
(the "Company" and,
together with certain affiliates, "Morrisons") announces that it has
successfully closed the sale to Motor Fuel Group (together with
certain affiliates, "MFG")
of 337 Morrisons' petrol forecourts (including fuel,
convenience retail kiosk and ancillary services) and more than
400 associated sites on the Morrisons' car parks across the
United Kingdom for ultra-rapid electric vehicle charging
development in exchange for £2.5 billion of consideration in
the form of cash and equity instruments (the "Transaction").
The Transaction forms a new
strategic partnership between the two companies. As part of the
Transaction, Morrisons has taken a minority stake of approximately
20% equity interest in MFG and entered into commercial and supply
agreements with MFG, underscoring the long-term nature of the
partnership. The Transaction further underpins Morrisons'
convenience growth strategy.
Morrisons intends to use the cash
proceeds of £1.8bn (after fees and expenses related to the
Transaction) to strengthen its capital structure and repay certain
of its debt obligations. Whilst the Company may elect to apply up
to £1bn proceeds towards reinvestment, it intends to explore if
there are efficient opportunities to apply proceeds to debt
reduction, which may include bilateral discussions with debt
holders, tender offers, open market purchases or redemptions of its
debt instruments across the entire capital structure. The Company
intends to use part of the proceeds to repay the Facility A loan
under its senior facilities agreement in its entirety without
delay.
HSBC Bank plc and Rabobank acted as
financial advisors to Morrisons in connection with the Transaction.
Kirkland & Ellis and Eversheds acted as legal advisors
and Deloitte acted as accounting advisors to Morrisons.
About Morrisons:
Headquartered in Bradford since
1899, Morrisons is a British food retailer with more than
100,000 colleagues in approximately 500 supermarkets and
1,000 convenience stores, in addition to wholesale supply
arrangements to approximately 300 franchise sites. We are British
farming's single biggest direct customer with all Morrisons branded
fresh meat and everything on our butchers' counters being 100%
British. Foodmakers and shopkeepers are at the heart of everything
we do. See also our website: https://www.morrisons-corporate.com/
Important Notice:
This announcement contains
information that qualified or may have qualified as inside
information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse
Regulation (EU) 596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law by
virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, as amended
("MAR"), and it is
disclosed in accordance with the Company's obligations under
Article 17 of MAR. This announcement is made by Jonathan
Burke, Company Secretary of the Company. This announcement is for
informational purposes only and does constitute or form any part of
any offer or invitation to sell or issue, or any solicitation of an
offer to purchase or subscribe for, any securities of the Company
or its group. This announcement is not for publication,
distribution or release, directly or indirectly, in or into any
jurisdiction in which the publication, distribution or release
would be unlawful.
Forward-Looking Statements:
This announcement may contain
"forward-looking statements" concerning the Company and its current
expectations and projections about future events. Generally, the
words "will", "may", "should", "could", "would", "can", "continue",
"opportunity", "believes", "expects", "intends", "anticipates",
"estimates" or similar expressions identify forward-looking
statements. The forward-looking statements involve risks,
assumptions and uncertainties (such as the completion of the
transactions described in this announcement), including both
economic and business risk factors that could cause actual events
or results to differ materially from any expected future events or
results expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.
The information contained in this announcement is subject to change
without notice and, except as required by applicable law, the
Company undertakes no obligation or responsibility to update or
review any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise. Readers should not place
undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as
at the date of this announcement.
Disclaimer:
HSBC Bank plc ("HSBC") is acting as financial adviser
to Morrisons in connection with the Transaction and will not be
responsible to anyone other than Morrisons for providing the
protections afforded to clients of HSBC, or for providing advice in
connection with the Transaction.
Coöperatieve Rabobank U.A., acting
through its Mergers & Acquisitions department ("Rabobank"), is acting as financial
adviser to Morrisons in connection with the Transaction and will
not be responsible to anyone other than Morrisons for providing the
protections afforded to clients of Rabobank, or for providing
advice in connection with the Transaction.