B&M: Fresher and Easier

Looking to clean up in value again....

What do you do after leading one of the world's biggest retailers? Well in Sir Terry Leahy's case, the answer is find yourself another retail venture and change the world again.

Whilst the market awaits B&Ms rumoured £2bn IPO, with Sir Terry as Chairman, the acquisition of German discount chain 
JA Woll Handels (who operate 50 stores under the Jawoll and Hafu fascias) took everyone by surprise. 
Going toe to toe with Aldi in the worlds largest discount market is audacious. What chutzpah!

Why buy? Interestingly some of their advisors believe entering a market through acquisition has more legs than starting from a green-field. You may be forgiven a rye smile. That was a very expensive lesson Sir Terry learned in the USA: Tesco's pain may be B&Ms gain. Certainly  B&Ms approach seems fresher and easier. 

PS You may have picked up on this, but if not...B&M Bargains has 375 stores in the UK and yet say less than 35% of the population live within 10 minutes of a store. That sounds like a declaration of intent. It doesn't need a maths degree to see an ambition to treble their store portfolio and a £2bn war chest post IPO will provide the liquidity to push on.