T&S is in talks to buy the One Stop convenience store chain from Portsmouth & Sunderland.
The 200-220-strong chain could fetch more than £50m. The acquisition would give T&S four times the number of stores it had planned opening this year, giving it a total of 1,167.
One Stop’s stores cover the Midlands and south of England.
Financial Times 30/03/99 page 28
The Times 30/03/99 page 27