Morrisons is moving ahead with plans to sell its fuel forecourts as it looks to focus on its food and manufacturing business.
The supermarket is still in talks to sell 340 sites to fellow Clayton, Dublier & Rice-owned company, Motor Fuel Group (MFG), which is the largest independent forecourt operator in the UK, This is Money reported.
This comes despite the government delaying a ban on new petrol and diesel car sales by five years.
Subscribe to Grocery Gazette for free
Sign up here to get the latest grocery and food news each morning
The deal is expected to make Morrisons around £2.5bn, which will help the grocer pay off some of the £6.6bn debt pile that it accumulated after the acquisition by CD&R in 2021.
This is not the first time the private equity firm has sold off some of Morrisons assets.
In June 2022, it sold seven of the grocer’s warehouses which it now leases back and has looked to sell some of its supermarkets in a bid to raise funds.
The news comes as Morrisons has expanded its partnership with Deliveroo, having opened a new dark store for its Hop rapid grocery delivery service in Canning Town.
The delivery-only store will provide local residents with access to groceries seven days a week, from 8am to 11pm.
