Morrisons Forms £2.5 Billion Gas Station Alliance With MFG (2)

Wm Morrison Supermarkets Ltd. is taking a minority stake in Motor Fuel Group and selling it hundreds of gas stations and electric-vehicle charging sites in a £2.5 billion ($3.2 billion) transaction.

The British grocer said the strategic partnership between the two companies, both owned by US private equity group Clayton Dubilier & Rice, would create the largest independent petrol forecourt operator in the UK. The deal will also help Morrisons reduce its substantial debt pile following CD&R’s leveraged take-private deal for the supermarket.

“What’s driving this deal is industrial logic,” said Terry Leahy, chairman of Morrisons and a former ...