BUSINESS LIVE: Sainsbury’s eyes £1bn of savings; Barratt to buy Redrow; PZ Cussons hit by naira losses

Barratt Developments is set to buy Redrow in an all-share deal that values its smaller British housebuilding rival at just over £2.5billion.

The deal will see each Redrow shareholder receive 1.44 new Barratt shares for each Redrow share, Barratt said in a statement.

Immediately following the completion of the transaction, Redrow shareholders will hold about 32.8 per cent of the combined Group and Barratt shareholders will hold about 67.2 per cent.

Barratt boss David Thomas said: ‘We have great respect for Redrow, its overall strategy, its leadership and employees, and its high-quality homes and communities.

This is an exciting opportunity to bring together two highly complementary companies, creating an exceptional homebuilder in terms of quality, service and sustainability, able to build more of the high-quality homes this country needs.

‘The Combined Group would leverage the respective strengths of both Barratt and Redrow, delivering significant benefits to our people, our supply chains, and – most importantly – our customers.’

Sainsbury’s has set a new cost savings target of £1billion over three years so the supermarket group can finance both better prices and higher pay for its workers.

Updating on strategy, the group also committed to a progressive dividend policy from the start of its 2024/25 year and the commencement of a share buyback programme, with £200million of share capital to be bought back in 2024/25.

CEO Simon Roberts said: ‘Our Food First strategy has delivered on its promise over the last three years, making Sainsbury’s a stronger business with a much sharper position on value and a major refocus on our innovation. Customers have recognised the progress we’ve made, as our market share gains have shown.

‘Our Next Level Sainsbury’s strategy is about giving customers more of what they come to Sainsbury’s for – outstanding value, unbeatable quality food and great service. Thanks to our scale, our brand and our people, we are in a unique position to deliver for customers across Sainsburys, Argos and Nectar.’