Boss checks out of Sainsbury’s top job
SAINSBURY’S chief executive Mike Coupe is heading for the check-out months after its bid to merge with rival Asda was blocked by regulators.
The architect of the failed £14billion deal will step down at the end of May after six years in charge.
His successor will be Simon Roberts, 48, who joined Britain’s second biggest supermarket 18 months ago as retail and operations director after 15 years at Marks & Spencer and 13 years at Boots, where he became UK president.
Coupe, 59, had overseen the £1.4billion acquisition of Argos in 2016 as the business diversified under increasing pressure from German discounters.
It also bought the Nectar loyalty-card scheme.
But on the day he announced the Asda deal he was caught on camera singing: “We’re in the money,” to himself as he waited to be interviewed.
The Competition and Markets Authority said the merger could have raised prices and reduced choice.
He will continue to receive his bonus for the coming year and a proportion of his £962,000 base salary.
Coupe described his period in charge as “the most challenging and competitive of my 35-year career in retail”.
He added: “There is never a good time to move on but as we and the industry continued to evolve, I believe now is the right time to hand over.”
Chairman Martin Scicluna said: “Mike has been bold and ambitious. He has added enormous value.”
Shore Capital analyst Clive Black said: “Mike is a very focused and intelligent executive.We have never faulted him for the Asda merger attempt albeit we remain scathing at non-executive directors and advisers that did not offer him better counsel for a deal we felt was doomed from the start.”
Shares fell 4½p to 208p.