LONDON, Aug 29 Reuters Britain39;s secondlargest supermarket group, Sainsbury39;s, said on Thursday it had agreed to acquire 10 leasehold stores from home improvement retailer Homebase to covert into supermarkets.

Sainsbury39;s said the acquired stores were in key target locations that would grow its supermarket coverage across England, Northern Ireland and Scotland.

The transaction is expected to complete early next month with a gross investment value of about 130 million pounds 171 million. The first of the stores will be opened next summer, with all sites expected to be converted by the end of 2025.

The supermarket group said the new stores would add about 235,000 sq ft 21,832 sq m to its trading space, and create about 1,000 new Sainsbury39;s jobs.

10.7584 pounds

Reporting by Kylie MacLellan; Editing by Clarence Fernandez

Source Reuters