Nisa yes to Co-op deal

The shopkeepers who own convenience chain Nisa yesterday narrowly backed a £137million takeover by the Co-op.

The deal needed 75% approval by Nisa members and got 75.79% at an emergency meeting.

Nisa is a member-owned business with more than 3,000 stores and a wholesale arm. Chairman Peter Hartley said: “We are firm in our belief that a combination with the Co-op is in the best interests of Nisa’s members.

“Co-op will add buying power and product range to our offering, while respecting our culture of independence.”

The deal will need regulator approval. Npower’s German owner has slashed £428million off its value and revealed losses of more than £320,000 a day at the supplier.

Innogy blamed the “difficult” UK market. The move comes a week after Innogy announced plans to merge npower with SSE’S retail arm to create a supersized supplier.

Npower profits slumped £24million to £89m in the first nine months, with revenue down 3.5% to just under £4.3billion.

The firm blamed customers switching from profitable standard tariffs to other deals. It also saw customer numbers drop 160,000 to 4.6m year on year.

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