ON THE UP: Asda

SHARES in Asda, the supermarket group soared 35 per cent last week as Kingfisher said it was in talks to buy it for about pounds 6bn to create a retailer involved in everything from food to home improvement.

Kingfisher's stock-swap offer is worth about 198p a share, a premium of 12.2 per cent above Asda's closing share price the day before the announcement. The companies said they expect the result to be a merged business 66.33 per cent-owned by Kingfisher and 33.67 per cent-owned by Asda. The talks follow a failed effort to link up last May. Increasing competition in mature UK markets and slowing consumer spending is forcing many retailers to consider mergers or takeovers to grow profit.