Ocado stakebuilding by Kroger could signal bid intentions - speculative report
08 JUN 2018
Ocado [LON:OCDO], a UK-based grocery delivery service, could be a takeover target for the Cincinnati, Ohio-based supermarket group Kroger [NYSE:KR], according to a speculative report in The Daily Telegraph. The newspaper’s market report section noted that Kroger this week increased its stake in Ocado from 5.92% to 6.06%.
The report went on to mention market speculation that Kroger’s stakebuilding is aimed at defending against a potential takeover bid from the online retailer Amazon.com, Inc [NASDAQ:AMZN] and that its stake in Ocado could be a step towards a Kroger bid for Ocado.
Ocado and Kroger inked a deal for Ocado to become Kroger’s exclusive order fulfilment partner.
Ocado’s share price closed 34.8p up at 955.6p in London on Thursday, 7 June, giving the company a market capitalisation of GBP 6.40bn (EUR 7.27bn).
The Daily Telegraph report appeared on page 7 of the newspaper’s Business section on Friday, 8 June.