Hong Kong (CNN Business) British regulators have derailed a blockbuster merger between two of the country's biggest supermarket chains. Walmart's WMT Sainsbury's JSAIY The United Kingdom's Competition and Markets Authority said on Thursday that it has blockedproposed sale of its British supermarket brand Asda toThe deal valued Asda at £7.3 billion ($9.4 billion), and would have created a mega retailer with 2,800 stores and combined annual sales of roughly £51 billion ($66 billion). ruled that the planned The antitrust watchdogruled that the planned takeover , agreed a year ago, would be bad for consumers as it could lead to higher prices, lower quality goods and a poorer shopping experience in general. "It's our responsibility to protect the millions of people who shop at Sainsbury's and Asda every week," said Stuart McIntosh, who led the CMA investigation. "We have concluded that there is no effective way of addressing our concerns, other than to block the merger."

Source: CNN April 25, 2019 07:25 UTC