// Asda CEO said the timescale for possible IPO is 2-3 years
// US parent company Walmart previously said it would consider IPO for Asda after failed Sainsbury’s merger
Asda chief executive Roger Burnley has said the timescale for a possible stock market listing of the Big 4 grocer is two to three years.
Asda’s US-based parent company Walmart has previously said it would consider an IPO after the £12 billion merger deal with rival grocer Sainsbury’s was blocked by the CMA.
“If I was a betting man, I just think that is the sort of time the process will probably take,” Asda chief executive Roger Burnley told Reuters.
“I use the phrase specifically that we’re ‘minded’ to an IPO.”
Burnley said that he doesn’t expect Walmart to retain a majority stake in Asda if it did decide on an IPO.
He added that Asda would work to convince investors in the meantime that the retailer can be revitalised.
“We need to be performing in the short term, create growth in the medium term and create a sustainable story in the long term,” he said.
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