Sainsbury’s €8.3bn bid to affect Irish grocers

By Eamon Quinn and Geoff Percival

A proposed €8.3bn takeover by UK supermarket giant Sainsbury of rival Asda to create the largest supermarket group in Britain will have significant effects on grocers across Ireland and Irish exporters, while Sainsbury in time could use its extra muscle to enter the Republic, according to experts on both sides on the Irish Sea.