Tesco shares climb on green light for Booker deal

Tesco shares rose by over 7% as it won provisional approval for its £3.7bn (€4.1bn) takeover of wholesaler Booker from the UK competition regulator, moving the UK’s biggest retailer closer to securing a new avenue of growth, writes James Davey. 

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority said it had conducted an in-depth review and provisionally concluded that Tesco’s purchase of Booker does not raise competition concerns.

The provisional unconditional clearance will come as a major relief to Tesco. Most analysts had expected Tesco would have to agree store disposals to gain clearance.