Company
Asda is a major British supermarket chain selling groceries, clothing and general merchandise through stores across the UK.
Sainsbury's ended preliminary merger talks with Morrisons held earlier this year, according to the FT. Sky News's Mark Kleinman argues in City AM that it is only a pause, with Tesco's lead and the discounters pushing the rest toward a deal.
Reality
Lidl held 8.6% of the UK grocery market in the 12 weeks to October, up from 8.2% a year ago, Worldpanel by Numerator figures show. Aldi, the larger German discounter, slipped from 10.6% to 10.5% over the same period, so the gain is Lidl's alone.
Reality
Sainsbury's, the UK's second-largest grocer, held merger talks with sixth-placed Morrisons from November to February before walking away. A competition ruling on Aldi and Lidl due this month will shape how many stores a revived deal would cost.
Reality
Tesco grew like-for-like sales by 1% in the first half, against 4% or more a year earlier, City AM reported. The rest of its half-year figures show shoppers spending selectively, which is a narrower warning for businesses that rely on household budgets.
Reality
Sainsbury's held exploratory talks this year on a Morrisons merger that would have created a grocer with 23.6% of the UK market, the FT and Sky reported. Any revival would turn on whether the competition regulator accepted store sales as the price of approval.
Reality
Tesco is weighing a sale of its Hungarian, Czech and Slovak arm, £4.5bn of its £66.6bn revenue last year, with Lidl among the interested parties. A sale would end its overseas expansion and free money and attention for a UK market where its share has recently slipped.
Reality
Lidl GB spent £315m on price cuts and promotions against pre-tax profit of £245.5m as its market share climbed past Morrisons. Deluxe grew only a little faster than the business as a whole, so Lidl's clearer edge over a slowing Aldi is its loyalty scheme.
Reality