TWELVE Jersey newsagents formally changed ownership last Friday.

The Spar franchise has taken over the Pickwicks and rStore businesses from the Guiton Group. The terms of the deal have not been disclosed. The acquisition has taken longer than anticipated, partly because the deal required prior approval from the Jersey Competition Regulatory Authority, which took from April to September 2007.

The JCRA has agreed to the deal on condition that Spar charges the same prices in all their shops across the Island for the next three years. The sale increases the number of Spar convenience stores in Jersey to 23. Guiton, which is owned by Wolverhampton-based Claverley Group, announced in April last year that it intended to sell its retail operations in the Channel Islands, Isle of Man and Isle of Wight. All but two retail outlets in Guernsey have now been sold.

John Averty, chairman and chief executive of the Guiton Group, which also owns the JEP, Guernsey Express and Itex, said: ‘The board made a strategic decision to exit the retail sector in order to further invest in its other business interests in the Channel Islands.’  Nigel Robson, chief executive of the Lodestar Group and Spar (Channel Islands), said that the majority of the managers and staff previously employed by Guiton had agreed to stay on.

• Picture: rStore in David Place