Morrisons sells forecourts arm to group under same PE owner in £2.5bn deal

Supermarket Morrisons has completed a £2.5bn deal to sell its 347 petrol stations to Motor Fuel Group (MFG). 

Both Morrisons and MFG are owned by Clayton Dubilier & Rice (CD&R), the American private equity firm who bought the supermarket three years ago. 

As part of the transaction Morrisons will take a minority stake of approximately 20 per cent in MFG, and enter into commercial and supply agreements with the St-Albans based firm. 

Today’s deal will take MFG’s presence in the UK to over 1,000 sites. 

Morrisons said the deal would not impact prices for consumers and money from the sale would be used to help with debt.

Rami Baitiéh, chief of Morrisons, said: “Morrisons customers will continue to see a competitive and attractive forecourt offering, including expanded access to EV charging, while also benefitting from greater focus on investment in Morrisons’ core food business.

“We are delighted to have such a strong partner in MFG and look forward to the opportunities a combined MFG and Morrisons forecourt offering will provide.” 

It mirrors a deal made by Asda last year, which saw the grocer acquire the UK division of EG Group’s petrol business. 

At the time it sparked concerns from the sector that an acquisition of this size could create issues with other competitors and raise fuel prices for consumers. 

Asda previously acquired 130 petrol sites from Co-op for £611m but handed 13 sites back after it sparked competition concerns from the CMA.