Food delivery business Ocado has insisted that a deal to supply Morrisons groceries to customers will not affect its existing deal with Waitrose.
The deal will be 'complimentary' to Ocado's agreement with Waitrose and the operation would be run separately, it said.
'Ocado customers would continue to buy exclusively from the existing Ocado, Waitrose and branded ranges,' Ocado said this morning ahead of its Annual General Meeting. Former Marks & Spencer chief executive Sir Stuart Rose will take over as chairman at Ocado from Michael Grade at today's meeting.
Ocado also said discussions with Morrisons do not involve the supermarket taking a stake or buying the business outright. It added there was 'no certainty' of a supply deal.
However, the negotiations appear to be hard fought despite investor expectations that it will benefit Ocado.
Morrisons' new finance director Trevor Stain told the Guardian newspaper: 'We are not dependent on Ocado to go online. What we've said is were talking with Ocado but we may or may not work with them.'
Retail analyst Nick Bubb said the 'continuing delay' is getting 'tiresome'. Shares in Ocado have soared by about 25 per cent since the beginning of the month on expectations over the deal. They closed at £2.09 yesterday valuing the business at £1.28 billion.
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