Online retailer Ocado is threatening to take British supermarket to court
THE boss of Ocado has threatened to take partner Marks & Spencer to court over an outstanding payment.
M&S Food first became available online when it bought half of Ocado Retail in 2019, ending Ocado’s relationship with Waitrose.
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Under the agreement, £562 million was paid upfront and a further £190 million was due this year if the company met certain performance targets.
The partnership was initially boosted by the online shopping boom during lockdowns but has since floundered, with M&S bosses publicly complaining that they were unhappy with the availability of M&S shares on Ocado’s site.
As a result, Ocado has missed its targets and M&S has indicated it will not pay the remainder.
But embattled Ocado chief Tim Steiner said yesterday: “We believe we have a very solid case for full payment.”
He added that while “it would be best to reach a settlement . . . we will not walk away from that amount of money.”
Ocado’s accounts yesterday included an admission that an agreement could not be reached “so formal legal proceedings may follow”.
Ocado shares rose while M&S’s fell on the news.
M&S, led by Stuart Machin, said: “On the specific issue of the contractual contingency payment, our advice is that the financial performance of Ocado Retail means that the performance payment criteria have not been met.”
Mr Steiner has previously been successful in court, including against one of the founders of Ocado, whom he accused of stealing secrets.
He also recently won £200 million from Norwegian rival AutoStore after it claimed Ocado had copied patents, prompting a countersuit from the British company.
BUD’S LIGHTER SALE
BREWING giant Anheuser Busch yesterday calculated the cost of Bud Light’s brief partnership with a transgender influencer.
Bud Light lost its 20-year position as the best-selling US beer – with sales of £1.1 billion – after sending a personalized can to Dylan Mulvaney.
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AB InBev, which also owns Stella Artois and Corona, saw its US sales fall by 17.3 percent and attributed this to a decline in Bud Light.
The company’s shares have also fallen since the partnership sparked an anti-trans boycott from American conservatives last April, while LGBTQ+ advocates lambasted the brewer for not doing enough to support Mulvaney.
The branding blunder taught companies a lesson that marketing shouldn’t divide customers, especially when it comes to a beer designed for mass appeal.
Donald Trump was among the critics, calling it “the worst ad in history” – but said earlier this month that AB Inbev was “not a woke company”.
He said the company deserved a “second chance” because it was such a major American employer.
2,000 JOBS AXED
Around 2,000 retail jobs will be lost at Sainsbury’s and The Body Shop.
Supermarket Sainsbury’s said it will switch from making cakes and breads on site to sending pastries to be finished in store ovens.
The company is also closing a call center in Widnes, Cheshire, and overhauling its supply chains, losing a total of 1,500 jobs.
Meanwhile, 489 jobs will be lost after The Body Shop confirmed it will close 75 stores.
The cosmetics company was placed into receivership last month.
HOME LOANS UP
Mortgage applications reached their highest level in fifteen months as home loans became more affordable in early 2024.
Figures from the Bank of England show that the number of new mortgage applications rose from 51,500 in December to 55,200 in January.
The Bank said homeowners were paying 5.19 percent interest – down from 5.28 percent.
The figures indicate an end to rising mortgage rates, which threatened to choke the housing market as buyers could not afford higher monthly interest payments.
On the mend
According to forecasts by the British Chambers of Commerce, the recession will be short-lived.
It predicts the UK economy will grow by 0.5 percent this year and 0.7 percent next year, with inflation falling to 2.3 percent by the end of 2024.
BIDDING DUEL FOR CARRIER
A bidding war has broken out between two foreign buyers for Wincanton, one of Britain’s last independent hauliers.
US company GXO Logistics, which took over Clipper Logistics two years ago, thwarted a takeover proposal with a knockout offer of 605p per share in cash.
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The offer values the company, founded in 1925, at £764 million, sending its shares up by a fifth to 606.6p.
Wincanton had struck a deal with French shipping company CMA CGM, which increased its offer to 480p per share this week.
But Wincanton announced on Monday it had received an approach from a “potential competing bidder”.
The secrecy was blown out of the water when GXO announced its offer yesterday, which is 125 percent higher than Wincanton’s share price before the takeover talks became public.
GXO said it had already received support from 34 percent of investors in Wincanton.
LSE BOSS: HIKE PAY
The boss of the London Stock Exchange has said British bosses must earn American pay packets or the city risks losing talent and more companies.
David Schwimmer, who could take home as much as £11m this year, said it was an issue faced by “companies competing on a global basis from a base in London”.
The city has been experiencing a drought at the fairs, but he said there was a better “pipeline” this year.