Sainsbury's has agreed to acquire four stores from Somerfield with an average size of 20,000 sq ft.
Darren Shapland, Sainsbury's chief financial officer said, "At the preliminary results in May 2006, we indicated we were actively seeking new sites to accelerate our store development programme under the leadership of our property director Peter Baguley. This acquisition is an example of the opportunities starting to emerge and we will continue to look for new sites across the UK.
"We are also delighted to be introducing Sainsbury's products and services to new areas and customers as well as welcoming around 300 new colleagues to Sainsbury's."
It is anticipated that these stores will be earnings enhancing in their first full year of operation.
All four sites will reopen as Sainsbury's supermarkets in the Autumn and all colleagues employed at the Somerfield stores will transfer to Sainsbury's under TUPE regulations.
In a separate transaction Sainsbury's has also acquired a 35,000 square foot food focused store in Urmston, Manchester. It is part of a major town centre redevelopment and expected to open in 2008
