Morrsions supermarket, which has stores across Nottinghamshire, is to be auctioned off between competing bidders, the supermarket has confirmed.
Britain's Takeover Panel said on Wednesday that Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) and Fortress Investment Group - who are all battling it out for the supermarket - will go head-to-head for the grocer in a one-day auction, reported the Mirror.
The retailer, which won 'Supermarket of the Year' at the Retail Industry Awards 2021, will go to an auction process on Saturday, October 2.
CD&R, a U.S. private equity firm, started its pursuit of Britain's fourth largest grocer in June. It was the first company to table a deal.
Rival Softbank-backed Fortress then made an offer of £6.3billion in July.
But shareholders felt this was too low and Fortress, which owns Majestic Wines, returned a month later with an increased offer of £6.7billion in August, which the board accepted.
Later that month CD&R returned with an increased bid of £7 billion, leading to the board withdrawing their support for the Fortress bid and throwing its weight behind the higher offer.
Given that neither bidder had declared its offer final, the London stock market's takeover panel today said all of the parties had agreed to an auction process to decide the outcome.
A buyer will be announced by Monday morning, although the process could be scrapped if either side state they will not increase their current offers.
Morrisons shares were trading up 1.3% at 296 pence in early deals on Wednesday.
It comes after forecourt tycoons the Issa brothers and TDR Capital acquired a majority ownership stake in Asda for £6.8billion.
The move places Asda back in UK hands for the first time in a decade.
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