Bruce Barnard | May 27, 2010 9:54AM EDT
A.P. Moller-Maersk agreed to sell its UK supermarkets business to U.S. retailer Wal-Mart for $1.1 billion, continuing a disposal of non core operations to focus on shipping and energy.
Maersk's 68 percent owned Dansk Supermarked will generate an accounting gain of around $760 million from the sale of Netto Foodstores' 193 discount stores to Asda, Wal-Mart's British arm.
Maersk said it hopes to close on the deal, which requires UK regulatory approval, in September.
Dansk Supermarked said it now plans to focus on growing its operations in Scandinavia and Northern Europe.
In March, Maersk sold its Rosti A/S plastics business to Nordstjernan AB for an undisclosed sum.
-- Contact Bruce Barnard at brucebarnard47@hotmail.com.
