Hong Kong (CNN Business)Just one day after ride-hailing giant Didi was banned from app stores in China, authorities have started investigating three other major technology services, citing concerns about national data security.

The companies under investigation recently went public in the US stock market, even though geopolitical tensions between the two countries remain high and Chinese authorities have been cracking down on technology companies.

On Monday, China's cybersecurity watchdog announced probes into truck-hailing platforms Yunmanman and Huochebang, as well as job listing site Boss Zhipin. New users cannot register for these three apps during the investigation.

Yunmanman and Huochebang are China's two major truck-hailing apps and label themselves as "Uber for trucks." They merged in 2017 to create a new firm — Full Truck Alliance, which listed on the New York Stock Exchange last month, and is currently valued at $21 billion.

Boss Zhipin is one of China's largest online job listing platforms. Its parent Kanzhun listed in New York last month and has a market cap of nearly $15 billion.

The Cybersecurity Review Office said in a statement that the probes are being undertaken to "prevent national data security risks, maintain national security, and protect the public interest."

Full Truck Alliance said in a statement that it will actively cooperate with the probe and conduct a thorough check on its network security.

Didi Chuxing banned

The announcement came just hours after the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) banned Didi, the country's largest ride-hailing service, from app stores after saying it posed a cybersecurity risk for customers. The CAC is China's top internet regulator, and its Cybersecurity Review Office division is responsible for reviewing cybersecurity risks.

"Didi Chuxing app is found to have severely violated the laws by illegally collecting and using personal information," the CAC said on Sunday. It called on Didi to fix the issue with its app to comply with the country's laws and to ensure its customers' safety.

Didi, which has 377 million active users in China alone, said in a statement that it is complying with China's demands, pulling the app from stores as it works to make changes to its app to satisfy regulators. The company said customers and drivers who have already downloaded the app won't be affected.

"We sincerely thank the ... department for its instruction in troubleshooting Didi's risks," Didi said. "We will rectify and improve risk avoidance and ... provide safe and convenient services to our users."

The ban on Didi comes less than a week after it went public on the New York Stock Exchange in the biggest US share offering by a Chinese company since Alibaba debuted in 2014.

Just two days later, on Friday, China launched a probe into Didi and suspended the registration of new users on the app. Didi's stock price tumbled Friday.

The suspension was "to prevent national data security risks" and in accordance with the National Security Law and Cybersecurity Law, the Cybersecurity Review Office said in a statement on Friday. The wording was exactly the same as its Monday statement on Yunmanman, Huochebang and Boss Zhipin.

Global Times, a state-run tabloid, said Sunday that Didi's ability to conduct "big data analysis" on people's behavior patterns pose potential risks.

"[We] must never let any internet giant become a super database of Chinese people's personal information that contains even more details than the state, let alone giving them the right to use those data at will," the paper said in a commentary.

"Especially for a company like Didi, which is listed in the United States and whose first and second shareholders are all foreign companies, the state needs to strictly regulate its information security," it said. "This is not only to maintain personal information security, but also to maintain national security."

Hasty IPO

Based on the laws cited by the regulators, Didi is probably being investigated over its purchase of certain products and services from other suppliers, which may threaten national data security, according to analysts from Shenzhen-based Ping An Securities.

"Didi will inevitably have to check its core network equipment, high-performance computers and servers, large-capacity storage equipment, large databases and application software, network security equipment, and cloud computing services, sort them out and make necessary rectifications to meet regulatory requirements," the analysts wrote in a note on Monday.

Yang Sirui, chief analyst for the computer industry at Bank of China International, said that Didi went for its public listing in the US hastily, probably due to investor pressure.

"Listing Didi as soon as possible meets the demands of the capital," he said. "But if [Didi] had arbitrarily collected user privacy data, abused it, or monetized it illicitly, it will inevitably be punished by Chinese regulators."

Since its founding in 2012, Didi has undergone a number of private fundraising rounds, raising tens of billions of dollars from venture capital or major tech firms. According to its IPO prospectus, SoftBank Vision Fund is currently the largest shareholder of Didi, with a 21.5% stake. Uber (UBER) and Tencent (TCEHY) followed with a 12.8% and 6.8% stake respectively.

The regulatory actions against Didi and other firms are part of a broad crackdown on Big Tech companies in China.

In March, Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed the need to regulate "platform" companies in the country. Several tech companies in the past few months have faced investigations for alleged monopolistic behavior or breaches of customer rights leading to record fines and massive overhauls.

In April, Alibaba (BABA), the online shopping giant co-founded by Jack Ma, was fined a record $2.8 billion after antitrust regulators concluded the company had behaved like a monopoly. Days after the fine was issued, Ant Group, another part of Jack Ma's business empire, was ordered to overhaul its operations and become a financial holding company supervised by the central bank.

Yang from Bank of China International said that Didi faces a different sort of investigation.

As a big ride-hailing platform, Didi possesses sensitive data that could concern national security, such as location data, he said.

— Alexis Benveniste and CNN's Beijing bureau contributed to this report.

On July 2, the price of AI-92 fuel was increased by MNT 300 per liter. The relevant authorities reported that the rising price of the oil in foreign markets has led to this increase in the country, which is relatively dependent on the international market.

Ts.Erdenebayar, Deputy Head in charge of Petroleum of MRPAM, said that the price of fuel distribution and sales in Mongolia depends on the price of oil in foreign markets, exchange rate or USD exchange rate, and the border price of petroleum products.

He pointed out that the MRPAM has reduced the retail price partially by MNT 380-570 since March, last year, in cooperation with fuel importing companies and enterprises. He also noted that the retail price of AI-92 gasoline was kept at MNT 1,450 per liter in the capital city and MNT 1,480-1,670 in rural regions despite the price of oil had been rising steadily at the international market.

According to the statistics of the MRPAM, Mongolia imported 468 thousand tons of fuel in 2019, 562 thousand tons in 2020 and 139 thousand tons in the first five months of 2021.

As of May 31, the price of a barrel of Brent crude oil was USD 68.88, increased by USD 25.8 compared to the same period of the previous year.

Moreover, In May, the International Energy Agency (IEA) revised its oil market review to reduce this year's supply by 270,000 barrels per day to 5.4 million barrels as the oil consumption in the United States and Europe was lower than expected in the first quarter of this year. This is due to the sharp decline in oil consumption in India.

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday urged leaders to push back against daunting new COVID surges through increased vaccination efforts and public health measures, warning that with the Delta variant quickly becoming the dominant strain in many countries ‘we are in a very dangerous period of the pandemic’.

According to Mongolian health officials, five people who are currently in quarantine centres have been confirmed as having been infected with the Covid-19 Delta variant.

Separately, today (5 July), Mongolia confirmed 1551 cases of coronavirus; bringing the total number to 126811; in all, 76 percent of them are from Ulaanbaatar.

Unfortunately, 12 people aged between 42 and 86 have died of Covid-19, bringing Mongolia’s total death toll to 629.

Currently, 14046 people infected with Covid-19 are being treated in hospitals; 241 of them are in critical condition. Furthermore, 24958 people with light symptoms of coronavirus are treating themselves at home under the supervision of doctors.

SEATTLE, Washington — Mongolia is a nation settled between two powerful countries: China and Russia. Known for its rugged terrain and nomadic culture, Mongolia was able to avoid any transmission of COVID-19 cases for ten months. This, however, took a turn in the spring of 2021 with cases rising to numbers that had not yet been seen in the country. With a sudden spike in cases threatening Mongolia’s fragile economy, neighboring countries aided public health efforts in Mongolia by answering the Mongolian government’s call for vaccines. As a result, vaccinations in Mongolia began in earnest.

COVID-19 and its Impact on Mongolia

Mongolian officials were especially wary of their underperforming healthcare system before any cases were even found in Mongolia. In addition, Mongolia also has the world’s longest land border with China. With a steady stream of people crossing the border each day between Mongolia and China, the government of Mongolia had to quickly prioritize protecting its people from the spread of the virus. When Mongolia was finally hit with COVID-19 cases similar to those in other countries, the shock of it greatly impacted the Mongolian labor market structure and shook the economic stability of the country.

The World Bank’s Mongolia Economic Update report showed that low-skilled workers living just above the national poverty line had fallen below the line into poverty because of the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their careers. However, by the end of 2021, the report estimates economic growth that will take place due to government stimulus measures will assist impoverished people. Along with this, the introduction of vaccinations in Mongolia will also contribute to economic growth.

Economic Ties: Critical for Vaccine Acquisition

With the country in a state of crisis, the Mongolian foreign minister turned towards China and Russia for help. Because of China’s reliance on Mongolian coal production, Mongolia gained priority in China’s vaccine distribution plan. A donation of 300,000 Sinopharm vaccines was sent from China to Mongolia. Afterward, Mongolia reached an agreement with Russia to purchase one million doses of Russia’s Sputnik vaccine while days later also getting approved for 330,000 more doses of China’s Sinopharm vaccine. China and Russia weren’t the only countries to donate vaccines to Mongolia. Thanks to a strategic partnership formed in 2015, India donated 15,000 AstraZeneca vaccines in February 2021. Because of additional donations from the COVAX initiative and continued national purchasing of vaccines, the number of vaccinations in Mongolia has steadily reached past three million. Mongolia’s ability to grapple with foreign policies for vaccine diplomacy has certainly been demonstrated through its support from other countries and companies.

Looking Forward: Vaccinations in Mongolia

The new Mongolian prime minister, Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrai, aims to vaccinate every Mongolian citizen above the age of 18 as soon as possible, previously setting sights on July of 2021 as a possible completion date for the ambitious goal. With only a population of 3.2 million people, the number of citizens above 18 is 62% of the Mongolian population. 3,788,394 individual doses have been administered in Mongolia, which has been estimated to provide the nation with a majority of fully vaccinated citizens. With high numbers of vaccinated citizens, Mongolia hopes to see an upswing in its economic stability.

To prevent significant portions of its citizenship from falling below the poverty line, Mongolia utilized the benefits of alliances with its powerful neighbors, Russia and China, among others. With the acquisition of vaccinations in Mongolia from other countries, the Mongolian economy may be able to recover from the devastating blow COVID-19 caused to its labor force. Moreover, the nation as a whole may be permanently past its peak of cases, which could signal the start of a recovery in every major sector and beyond.

by: Allie Degner

July 5 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia reported 1,551 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, bringing the national caseload to 126,811, the country's health ministry said Monday.

The ministry said that a total of 8,699 samples were tested across the country in the past day, and the latest confirmed cases were local infections.

Meanwhile, 12 people died from the virus in the past day, pushing the overall death toll to 653, the ministry said.

A total of 2,326 patients have recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries to 87,145.

More than 1,761,200 Mongolians have so far been fully vaccinated since the country launched a national vaccination campaign in late February, according to the ministry.

At the plenary session dated July 02, Parliament of Mongolia, the State Great Khural, adopted the Amnesty Law with 49 members of the parliament in attendance voted in favor.

The Constitution of Mongolia, in its provision No. 25, grants the exclusive right to the State Great Khural to issue acts of amnesty. The Mongolian parliament has adopted amnesty laws a total of six times in 1991, 1996, 2000, 2006, 2009 and 2015.

The law is approved in the year commemorating the 2230th anniversary of Foundation of the first Mongolian Statehood and 100th anniversary of People’s Revolution of Mongolia.

The one-time amnesty law enters into force on July 6, 2021, and excludes 38 types of crimes and offences, including crime on money laundering, terrorism financing, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, tax avoidance and violent crimes, drug-related crimes, environmental crimes, sexual assaults, crimes against children, and corruption crimes.

The seventh amnesty law of Mongolia will lead to release of around 3.6 percent of all prisoners and replace of 8.9 percent of prison sentences with restrictions to movement, 2-year reduction in 4.5 percent of prison sentences. Beginning July 6, 157 male prisoners and 3 women prisoners will be released from prison as a result of this law, and another 1,130 prisoner will have their prison sentence change to restrictions to movement, says Minister of Justice Kh.Nyambaatar.

At the July 2 plenary session, Parliament Speaker G.Zandanshatar highlighted that the approval of the amnesty law is the proof of humanitarian practice and implementation of the rule of law. He continued “The law is adopted to implement the call issued by the World Health Organization and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to reduce the volume of restrictions of personal liberty and detention as well as the number of prisoners as much as possible, and to grant mercy for those who committed non-serious and minor violations, older age people, people with chronic diseases, women and children amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.”

Moreover, a large number of people being detained at prison and detention centers impose additional risks to the transmission of coronavirus and health of the prisoners. Mongolia’s Human Rights Commission forwarded a proposal to grant amnesty to male prisoners above 60 years old and female prisoners aged above 55 years old, lactating women, people with disabilities and teenagers based on their time served and behavior.

The 2021 amnesty law also shows one-time amnesty for people who have unpaid fines on traffic tickets and for people who had their driver's license suspended. It allows drivers who owe unpaid fines accrued due to traffic offenses to reduce those fines by 50 percent only on the condition that they have paid the remaining 50 percent off. Drivers whose licenses were suspended before June 24, 2021 are also entitled to have their license recovered with this law.

The 11th regular meeting of the Financial Regulatory Commission (FRC) was held on 11 June to discuss and resolve a number of important issues related to the sector's policies and decisions, as well as the business activities of legal entities.

The FRC has done a lot to develop the stock market. Most recently, the regulation on over-the-counter market relations was approved at the 23rd regular meeting last year. In today's meeting, the Securities Registration Procedure and Company Debt Instrument Registration Procedure were discussed and approved.

Adoption of this set of two regulations will improve the functions, responsibilities, and information transparency of listed securities issuers; between trading entities and government regulators. It will also eliminate duplication of company shares and debt instruments. In particular, it is an important policy measure, to support the development of the securities market and ensure its stability, efficiency and transparency.

License issued to The Capital Housing Corporation GURAV LLC

In the FRC meeting, it was decided to register the founding document of Mandal Future Growth (closed Joint Investment Fund) established by Mandal Asset Management LLC. With the establishment of this investment fund, it will be possible to increase the return on investment of investors by offering their shares to the public through a trading organization; raising more than MNT 50.0 billion, and investing in high-yield financial instruments. In addition, a license to issue asset-backed securities was issued to The Capital Housing Corporation Guruv LLC, established by The Capital Housing Corporation JSC.

The FRC has issued licenses to companies established by The Capital Housing Corporation JSC. At present, a total of MNT 87.8 billion worth of asset-backed securities have been registered, which enables 1,030 civil servants to participate in the rental housing program.

The meeting also decided to issue licenses to: two companies (allowing them to conduct insurance and non-bank financial foreign exchange trading), three companies (to conduct real estate brokerage activities), and one citizen (to conduct precious metal and stone trading).

At the same time, the licenses of five savings and credit cooperatives were extended, two companies were allowed to register closed bonds.

Source: Financial Regulatory Commission

Coal prices across Asia are surging to records, underscoring a challenge for governments seeking a faster energy transition: the dirtiest of fuels they’re racing to phase out is enjoying booming demand.

Power plants are rushing to secure adequate electricity supplies as a hot summer adds to demand from the region’s post-pandemic industrial revival. On top of that, output in some key producer nations has been hurt, while high natural gas costs mean there’s no cheaper alternative for utilities to turn to.

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All that has sparked a coal rally in Asia, the center of demand for the fossil fuel. The price of physical coal cargoes in Australia’s Newcastle and China’s Qinhuangdao ports have soared more than 50% this year to their highest ever. Futures are also up, with those in Australia jumping almost 50% and prices in China more than doubling.

“Coal prices just keep on punching higher,” said Sydney-based Peter O’Connor, an analyst at Shaw & Partners Ltd. “We’re close to the top in terms of pricing, but I don’t think we’re there yet.”

The rally is highlighting coal’s enduring role in the world’s energy mix, particularly in Asia’s large and growing economies, despite a broader push for more aggressive action to tackle climate change. Coal accounted for more than a third of global electricity generation in 2019, according to BloombergNEF. The top three consumers — China, India and the U.S. — are all forecast to burn more this year.

“We can see fairly robust pricing toward year-end,” Sakkie Swanepoel, group manager of marketing at Exxaro Resources Ltd., the South Africa-based miner and coal producer, said on a Tuesday conference call. “We do not see prices just falling off the cliff.”

Here’s what’s driving the rally in key markets:

China

Much of the tightness in the market can be traced back to China, which produces and burns half the world’s supply. Power demand is surging as factories take on orders to supply rebounding economies, and domestic mine output has been slowed by safety inspections after a series of deadly accidents and extra scrutiny because of the Chinese Communist Party’s 100th anniversary celebrations.

China coal buying.

Power plants are looking to imports to fill the gap, with June deliveries expected to top 30 million tonnes for the first time this year before rising again in July and August, according to analysts at Fengkuang Coal Logistics. The country still refuses to allow Australian purchases amid a geopolitical rift.

Even with government efforts to cool the market — such as releasing stockpiles and pressuring state-owned suppliers not to let bidding get out of hand — prices will hold at elevated levels this summer, especially as the spot market is facing a “pretty serious” shortage, said Huatai Futures Ltd. analyst Wang Haitao.

Australia

Producers have shrugged off the loss of a key export market after diplomatic tensions saw China halt Australian coal purchases from late last year. Cargoes of premium thermal coal have quickly found alternative buyers, while suppliers of mid-quality power station fuel and steel-making coal are poised to benefit as India and parts of Southeast Asia ease Covid-related restrictions, Australia’s government said in a report this week.

Benchmark prices for higher-quality physical coal at Australia’s Newcastle port have jumped 66% this year to a record of $136.38 a tonne, according to China Coal Resource. Newcastle coal futures on Thursday rose to $131.45 a tonne, the highest since March 2011.

Benchmark Newcastle coal

Those gains haven’t translated into advances for some Australian producers. Yancoal Australia Ltd. has declined 18% this year to Thursday’s close, while Coronado Global Resources Inc. has slumped 20%. “Coal is going up, and yet people don’t want to invest in coal,” O’Connor said. “There is a dislocation between coal prices and equities.” Companies including Whitehaven Coal Ltd. have also faced lengthy legal battles over expansion plans.

Japan

Some Japanese utilities have boosted spot coal purchases after the country’s Ministry of Energy, Trade and Industry ordered them to be prepared for summer demand after winter shortages sent power prices rocketing.

Tohoku Electric Power Co. had to agree to a 60% price bump for its annual coal supply through March 2022 from Glencore Plc. Still, the sky-high coal prices are nowhere near the level they would need to be to cause utilities to switch to liquefied natural gas, where prices have risen by 500% in the past year.

coal demand

Even in the middle of summer, buyers are already negotiating October-loading cargoes as they seek to secure supplies ahead of winter.

Indonesia

Heavy rains in Indonesia in the beginning of the year curtailed supply in the world’s biggest exporter of power plant coal. The government in April gave miners permission to produce an extra 75 million tonnes for export, on top of the 550 million tonnes it had set as a production quota, but so far supplies are behind pace.

top thermal coal exporters

“We don’t know yet if the export target can be achieved,” Indonesia Coal Mining Association Executive Director Hendra Sinadia said in an interview. “Even if prices are good it will also depend on demand and economic recovery in buyer countries amid this pandemic situation.”

India

India, the second-biggest coal user, burns the fuel for about 70% of its power needs and higher prices could ripple across the economy, accelerating inflation, according to Rupesh Sankhe, vice president at Elara Capital India Pvt. in Mumbai.

Coal India Ltd., the top global producer of the fuel, is seeking to win sales as customers switch to domestic sources from higher-cost imports. It’s also debating whether to lift prices for long-term contracts to reflect the surge in global benchmark rates, Chairman Pramod Agrawal said last month.

The producer “has a great chance to win back customers that had switched to imports,” Sankhe said.

(By David Stringer and Dan Murtaugh, with assistance from Krystal Chia, Rajesh Kumar Singh, Eko Listiyorini, Miaojung Lin, Tsuyoshi Inajima and Stephen Stapczynski)

The Mongolian Government has decided to totally cancel the annual Naadam Festival, the biggest celebration in Mongolia due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the Cabinet decision is to keep the Naadam holiday as planned between 10-16 July. Therefore, Mongolians will enjoy a nine-day-long holiday including the weekends. According to the “Public Celebration Law” – the 10-12th of July are public holidays for the Naadam Festival.

On July 02, many citizens, mostly young people demonstrated on Sukhbaatar Square demanding a cancellation of the festival and held vigil light for the victims of Covid-19. The participants held slogans such as “#NoNaadam”, or “Naad Ami’” – literally: “play life”. Feelings are mixed: earlier today, some horse riding fans demonstrated on the same square demanding to hold Naadam as planned.

Previously, the centuries-old festival had been shifted online due to coronavirus for the second year running. But, many Mongolians have begun demanding the government to cancel the virtual Naadam and use its MNT 10 billion budget for supporting the health sector. The Covid-19 pandemic in Mongolia is worsening daily as the death toll has passed two digits and more young people are now dying of the virus. The healthcare system is now teetering on the brink, with many hospitals are unable to handle the relentless inflow of patients whilst also running short of beds, oxygen and ventilators.

Separately, the National Human Rights Commission of Mongolia is advising to cancel the traditional horse racing in order to protect children from getting Covid-19. Young Mongolian boys and girls aged 7-12 compete in this ancient tradition – racing horses at top speeds on the country’s vast steppes. These cross-country horse races are some of the longest in the world.

Supermarket chain Morrisons has accepted a £6.3bn ($8.7bn) takeover bid by a US investment group led by the owner of Majestic Wine.

Last month, the supermarket group turned down an offer worth £5.5bn from a different firm, saying it had significantly undervalued the business.

Morrisons chairman, Andrew Higginson, said the new offer was fair, and the chain would "continue to prosper".

The firm has nearly 500 shops and more than 110,000 staff in the UK.

The takeover - led by US private equity group Fortress Investment Group - is subject to shareholder approval but the supermarket group's directors are recommending it is unanimously voted for.

Under the deal's terms deal shareholders will get 254p per share - which Morrisons said was a 42% premium on its share price before the offer period - brought about with the disclosure of the rejected offer from Clayton Dublier & Rice (CD&R).

Mr Higginson said the supermarket's "performance through the pandemic" had improved its standing and enabled it to enter discussions with Fortress from "a hard-won position of strength".

He said it was clear to the supermarket's directors that Fortress had a "full understanding and appreciation of the fundamental character of Morrisons".

Joshua A Pack, managing partner at Fortress, said the group was committed to being "good stewards of Morrisons".

Fortress's bid is backed with funding by the Canada Pension Plan and Koch Real Estate Investments - part of Koch Industries.

Morrisons share price graphic

Russ Mould, investment director at stock broker AJ Bell, said the American investors may have considered Morrisons - the UK's fourth largest supermarket group - as being "unloved, under appreciated and therefore under valued" meaning they thought they were getting a bargain.

Mr Mould added that Fortress had been clear in its statement that it did not plan to sell any of its real estate which he thought was aimed at reassuring staff and wider society that this would not be a case of asset stripping by a private equity firm.

Morrisons owns the freehold on about 85% of its properties including its supermarkets.

Labour's shadow business minister Seema Malhotra said the government must closely scrutinise the takeover bid and called on ministers to work with the consortium to ensure "crucial commitments to protect the workforce and the pension scheme are legally binding, and met".

The government said it was committed to "ensuring that the UK remains open for business, while protecting the livelihoods of British workers and investment in the UK".

Workers union Unite said it wanted "unbreakable guarantees" on jobs and conditions or it would not co-operate with any sale.

Unite's national officer for road transport Adrian Jones, which represents Morrisons' warehouse and distribution workers, said the company was "unique among UK supermarkets" because it owns its supply chain.

Following confirmation of one takeover bid last month, news of another was not unexpected.

The message from Fortress and its partners is that this would be a long-term investment rather than precipitate dramatic change.

It has made it clear it would support the existing strategy of Morrison's management. Areas for development include the supermarket's online offering.

Fortress has also sought to pre-empt and assuage any concerns about the impact its takeover would have on the business, its workforce and supply chain.

For example, supporting pay of at least £10 an hour, not changing the pension schemes, and not anticipating "material" store sale-and-leasebacks. The fact Morrisons owns most of its sites is perceived as a big draw.

But still, Labour and the Unite union are demanding further guarantees.

If this deal does come to fruition, it will shorten an already short list of the remaining publicly listed UK supermarkets.

2px presentational grey line

Richard Lim, of research consultants Retail Economics, said the deal "signals the biggest shakeup in the UK grocery sector for over a decade" as the industry grapples with changes brought by the pandemic and post-Brexit supply chains.

Adam Leyland, editor-in-chief of trade publication the Grocer, said the fact the bid had been recommended by the board made it more likely to go through and put pressure on CD&R - which could return with a follow up bid.

He said the nature of the way a purchase was made was important and said the Morrisons deal, in which he said the consortium planned to "back the business", was in contrast to the Issa Brothers buyout of Asda.

In that deal a large amount of the £6.8bn purchase price was met by borrowing in what is know as a leveraged buyout.

Morrisons started life as a market stall in Bradford in 1899 but it was not until 1961 that the first supermarket store opened under the name.

In 2004, the group bought rival grocer Safeway for £3bn, giving it a bigger slice of the market in southern England.