This is the astonishing moment the CEO of Sainsbury’s sang ‘We’re in the money’ in front of TV cameras as he waited to be interviewed.
Mike Coupe was gearing up to be interviewed by ITV after the news broke that Sainsbury’s would be merging with Asda.
The song was an appropriate choice after it was revealed earlier today that Sainsbury’s share prices have sky rocketed by 20% following the merger announcement.
Mr Coupe claims he was singing along to song from the musical 42nd Street which he saw last year as he was trying to compose himself ahead of the interview.
The video shows him singing the lyrics ‘we’re in the money, the sky is sunny, let’s spend it, lend it, send it, rolling along’ before sipping from a cup of coffee.
He said that it was an unguarded moment and also apologised for the ‘unfortunate choice of song’.
Sainsbury’s CEO Mike Coupe was gearing up to be interviewed by ITV after the news broke that Sainsbury’s would be merging with Asda
The video shows him singing the lyrics ‘we’re in the money, the sky is sunny, let’s spend it, lend it, send it, rolling along’
A spokesperson for Sainsbury’s said: Mike was composing himself between interviews. As many of us do, he was singing songs to himself to clear his mind.
‘He recently saw 42nd Street, where this song is from and we all know these songs stay in your head.
‘To attach any wider meaning to this innocent, personal moment is preposterous.’
During the ‘unguarded’ moment Mr Couple also takes a sip of his coffee
Earlier today Sainsbury’s and Asda confirmed a £12billion super-merger that would launch a price war to fight back against discounters Aldi and Lidl and the emerging threat of Amazon.
Britain’s competition watchdog has said today it will look at the deal because the new business would overtake Tesco as the UK’s biggest retailer.
The mega-supermarket says its buying power would help lower its prices by 10 per cent with experts saying Asda would take the fight to Lidl and Aldi while Sainsbury’s could undercut premium food retailers like M&S and Waitrose.
With a combined 500,000-plus online deliveries every week they also hope to see off the looming threat from Amazon’s food service.
Sainsbury’s and Asda could be forced to sell hundreds of stores if they are to win approval for their merger from the competition watchdog
Sainsbury’s say the mega-merger will help them make £500million in combined saving and help them cut prices on common products by 10 per cent
The proposed superpower supermarket claims that no stores will close and none of their combined 330,000 staff will be put out of work – but many believe it will have to sell hundreds of stores to get past the Competition and Markets Authority.
Research group Edison believes at least 70 of Asda’s 700 stores could be under threat because they are within a mile of a Sainsbury’s supermarket.
The main rivals Tesco and Morrisons saw their share price fall back today following the announcement.
If Sainsbury’s and Asda are allowed to combine their UK operations they would overtake Tesco as Britain’s biggest supermarket and retailer
The £12billion mega-merger immediately raised hopes of a supermarket price war that would benefit shoppers and the combined supermarket has promised to lower prices by around 10 per cent on many products.
But the alarm was sounded that the new firm would squeeze farmers and other suppliers to keep prices down.
Paul Mumford of Cavendish Asset Management said: ‘The indicated 10% lower prices on regularly bought products will have raised eyebrows amongst the food producers who will fear another squeeze on margins’.
This morning the Sainsbury’s share prince jumped up 20 per cent to its highest level since 2014 while rivals Tesco and Morrisons saw their price fall back today
Andy Brian, head of retail at Gordons law firm, says that store closures will happen despite what Sainsbury’s and Asda say.
He said: ‘One thing is clear; despite what is being said officially, stores would have to close. That’s not necessarily a bad thing for the brands, although it would of course be a bad thing for those store employees.
‘Moving forwards, one theory is that this deal could allow Sainsbury’s the freedom to compete hard against M&S Food and Waitrose at the top end of the grocery market and leave Asda to compete further on price against the other mid-market players, as well as Aldi and Lidl’.
Simran Jagdev, companies analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit, says it may have been prompted by the threat of Amazon.
He said: ‘The deal points to the highly competitive UK grocery market, which has long been concentrated in the hands of the top four players— Tesco, Sainsbury, Asda, Morrisons – but is now facing an onslaught from new challengers.
‘Sainsbury’s seems to be continuing the offensive against online players such as Amazon and discount grocery retailers such as Aldi and Lidl that Tesco started last year with its merger with Booker’.
Sainsbury’s boss Mike Coupe, Walmart boss Judith McKenna and Asda boss Roger Burnley (left to right) pose together today as the proposed merger between the supermarket giants was revealed
The deal would create a new titan with a bigger market share than Tesco, but it will be closely scrutinised by the Competition and Markets Authority.
The competition watchdog said it will assess whether the deal could reduce competition and choice for shoppers.
‘If a potential reduction in competition is identified, it would be referred for an in-depth, Phase 2 investigation lasting up to 24 weeks – unless the merging parties offered immediate proposals to address any competition concerns identified,’ the CMA said.
Sainsbury’s boss Mike Coupe said they and Asda have asked the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to fast-track the deal to a phase two in depth probe, adding that the combination is expected to complete in the second half of next year.
‘We believe the outcome of the CMA will be to keep all of the stores trading.’
The tie-up is ‘designed for a new era’ of retailing, Mr Coupe added, before pointing out that Asda has a strong presence in the north of England and Sainsbury’s in the south.
‘The deal brings scale in clothing and general merchandise,’ confirming that Argos stores will be put inside Asda supermarkets.
He also confirmed that the deal has the blessing of the Qatar Investment Authority, Sainsbury’s largest shareholder.