LONDON -- Wm. Morrison Supermarkets PLC, Britain's fourth-largest grocery chain, has taken a 10% stake in the New York-based Internet food retailer FreshDirect.
The [pounds sterling]32 million ($51.5 million) investment will get Morrison a seat on FreshDirect's board, and a chance to learn the online grocery business with an eye toward establishing its own version in the United Kingdom.
Morrison has also announced plans to spend [pounds sterling]3 billion ($4.8 billion) on new store expansion over the next three years, with a particular eye toward smaller, convenience-oriented stores. The company says it plans to add as much as 2.5 million square feet of new retail space by 2014, and plans to test three convenience store concepts this year, beginning with a store opening set for July.
Also planned is a [pounds sterling]1 billion stock buyback.
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