Sainsbury's: what do Qataris want with our supermarkets?

Jock — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 00:59:59 +0100

Apparently there's likely to be a formal offer by the end of the week for Sainsbury's after months of dancing around. What would they be getting? Do they actually want a food retail business in far of Britain? It's not like Qatar is a major part of the supply chain or anything for food retail in Britain.

No, for a cost of just over £10bn (at an offer price minimum of £5.95 per share) they'll get their hands on a property company worth about £10bn plus a retail business valued practically nothing as a sideline.

Need I remind you that this is largely land value that we create as a community, with our footfall, our planning consents, and our benign property tax on the out of town sites where the supermarkets do not pay business rates on most of their property, giving them an unfair advantage over in-town sites where parking is not so cheap. It's not Messrs Sainsbury & Co. that create it, but it is they who will walk away with the proceeds.

Technorati Tags: geo-libertarian, Henry George, land value tax

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Sainsbury's: what do Qataris want with our supermarkets?