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Company type | Private |
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Industry | Retail |
Founded | 1959 |
Number of locations | 1,833 (2024) |
Area served | United Kingdom |
Products | Groceries |
Parent | Tesco [1] (via Booker Group [2] ) |
Website | www |
Londis is a symbol group in the United Kingdom with over 2,000 stores nationwide. Tesco owns the brand, following its 2018 purchase of Booker Group. [3] [2] [1]
Although it was formerly a subsidiary, the Londis brand in Ireland is no longer related to Londis (UK).
The name Londis is a contraction of "London District Stores". [4]
Londis was established in Great Britain in 1959 by Kevin Stanley-Adams as a communally owned company, with each retailer owning a share in the parent company. [4]
However, in June 2004, the parent company was sold to the Irish Musgrave wholesale chain with a payment of £31,000 being made to each retailer who owned a stake, [5] bringing it under the same ownership as Budgens, which has now adopted a similar franchise based business model. This acquisition proved controversial, [6] [7] with the CEO of Musgrave in the United Kingdom, Eoin McGettigan, steering through the choppy waters of member revolts and counter offers from others backed by Icelandic banks. [8] A separate, but wholly owned subsidiary company, Musgrave Retail Partners GB Ltd. was formed to supply the stores, until it was sold to Booker Group in 2015. [9] In May 2015, Londis' parent company Musgrave Group confirmed it had reached an agreement to sell Budgens and Londis for £40 million to the wholesaler Booker Group, subject to regulatory approval. [2]
Since May 2015, the company has been owned by Booker Group, which purchased Londis and its sister company Budgens from the Musgrave Group for £40 million.
Tesco plc acquired Booker Group in 2018. [1]
The current Londis retailer network is in excess of 2,200 stores and forecourt shops located throughout England, Scotland and Wales. [10]
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