Londis shopkeepers vote for windfall takeover

Nearly 2,000 shopkeepers in the Londis convenience store chain were tonight each looking forward to a £31,000 (€46,633) payout after they voted overwhelmingly in favour of a £60m (€90m) takeover.

More than 97% of storeholders in the mutual approved the offer by Musgrave, the Ireland-based owners of Budgens, at an extraordinary general meeting in Birmingham.

The move will see Musgrave take over Londis’s wholesale and distribution arm, in which the shopkeepers are currently shareholders.

Musgrave group managing director Seamus Scally told the meeting: “All I can do is pledge that we will return that support back to you over the coming years.

“We will engage with you very early on and we will be engaging in the development of your own businesses with us.”

He added: “We can only go from strength to strength if we work together, and I have every confidence we can do that.”