our business correspondent katy austin has more. morrisons has nearly 500 stores and employs about 110,000 staff in the uk. the takeover offer that has been agreed is led by the us private equity group fortress. its bid is higher than one by a different firm which morrisons rejected last month. 0ne stockbroker told me the supermarket is seen as an attractive prospect right now. the main issue is i think they will feel the price is too low and there is value to be had. the company is profitable it s got very limited debt, it has got a good, popular business, it s got a good business model and the shares have done very little for the last five years, so i think they will genuinely think they are getting a bargain. morrisons owns most of its stores. would fortress perhaps look to sell some and lease them back? well, fortress has said it doesn t anticipate doing that it. it s made a series of other commitments on staff, payment and
including the american owner of majestic wine. last month the chain rejected an offer of 5 and a half billion pounds from a different firm, saying it significantly undervalued the business. our business correspondent katy austin has more. morrisons has nearly 500 stores and employs about 110,000 staff in the uk. the takeover offer that has been agreed is led by the us private equity group fortress. its bid is higher than one by a different firm which morrisons rejected last month. 0ne stockbroker told me the supermarket is seen as an attractive prospect right now. the main issue is i think they will feel the price is too low and there is value to be had. the company is profitable it s got very limited debt, it has got a good, popular business, it s got a good business model and the shares have done very little for the last five years, so i think they will genuinely think they are getting a bargain. so, would a takeover lead to any noticeable changes? morrisons owns most of its stores.
its bid is higher than one by a different firm which morrisons rejected last month. 0ne stockbroker told me the supermarket is seen as an attractive prospect right now. the main issue is i think they will feel the price is too low and there is value to be had. the company is profitable, it s got very limited debt, it has got a good, popular business, it s got a good business model, and the shares have done very little for the last five years, so i think they will genuinely think they are getting a bargain. so, would a takeover lead to any noticeable changes? morrisons owns most of its stores. would fortress perhaps look to sell some and lease them back? well, fortress has said it doesn t anticipate doing that. it s understood this and other commitments, for example on pay, were significant factors in the supermarket s board recommending the offer. fortress is really going out of its way to emphasise a different approach from private equity, a long term backing for the existing strategy
morrisons has nearly 500 stores and employs about 110,000 staff in the uk. the takeover offer that has been agreed is led by the us private equity group fortress. its bid is higher than one by a different firm which morrisons rejected last month. 0ne stockbroker told me the supermarket is seen as an attractive prospect right now. the main issue is i think they will feel the price is too low and there is value to be had. the company is profitable it s got very limited debt, it has got a good, popular business, it s got a good business model and the shares have done very little for the last five years, so i think they will genuinely think they are getting a bargain. so, would a takeover lead to any noticeable changes? morrisons owns most of its stores. would fortress perhaps look to sell some and lease them back? well, fortress has said it doesn t anticipate doing that it. it s understood this and other commitments, for example on pay, would fortress perhaps look to sell some and lease t
so i think they will genuinely think they are getting a bargain. so, would a takeover lead to any noticeable changes? morrisons owns most of its stores. would fortress perhaps look to sell some and lease them back? well, fortress has said it doesn t anticipate doing that it. it s understood this and other commitments, for example on pay, were significant factors in the supermarket s board recommending the offer. fortresses is really going out of its way to emphasise a different approach from private equity, a long term backing for the existing strategy to reassure the market and to reassure customers and colleagues that basically this doesn t mean a lot of change. it really doesn t. morrisons shareholders will eventually have the final say on the takeover bid. the competitive grocery sector is changing. the pandemic sped up the shift to online shopping and delivery. some investors clearly feel there are potentially lucrative opportunities to be had. katy austin, bbc news. a man s been