Company
British supermarket group and the UK's second-largest grocery chain, operating stores, Argos retail, and the Nectar loyalty programme.
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