The failure of the merger of Britain’s second and third biggest supermarkets ramps up the pressure on Mike Coupe, the boss of Sainsbury’s. Just over a year ago, when Asda and Sainsbury’s disclosed their audacious attempt to reshape the UK’s food retailing landscape, Mr Coupe, 58, was caught on camera before a television interview singing We’re in the Money, a song from the musical 42nd Street. Now Sainsbury’s investors are most certainly out of the money. Shares in the FTSE 100 grocer fell by 10.4p, or 4.6 per cent, to 216.2p today on the news that the Competition and Markets Authority had blocked the tie-up. The fall wipes about £230 million off the value of Sainsbury’s and takes the stock to its lowest level since…

Source: The Times April 25, 2019 11:03 UTC