Tesco share price: Grocer sued over alleged breach of competition law

Tesco (LON:TSCO) is being sued by a property developer over an alleged breach of competition law, The Telegraph has revealed.

According to the newspaper, High Peak Developments served Tesco with a writ last week, claiming that the blue-chip grocer was acting illegally by refusing to release a restrictive covenant on land surrounding its store at Whaley Bridge, Derbyshire.

Tesco bought the land for the store from High Peak Developments in 1997 and insisted that a covenant was put in place that ensured the surrounding land could not be used for the sale of food, convenience goods or pharmacy products.

Last July, however, High Peak entered into a conditional agreement with discount chain B&M Bargains to build a new shop on the land, provided the covenant was released. The developer agreed to pay Tesco for the release of the covenant and papers were exchanged by both sides’ solicitors in August. Three months later Tesco refused to relinquish the covenant, taking “an anti-competitive stance,” according to High Peak.

A Tesco spokesman was quoted as saying,

Tesco’s share price opened higher this morning, mirroring a rise in the broader UK stock market. As of 08:07 GMT, the retailer was changing hands at 179.75p, 1.47 percent up intraday. The FTSE 100 had meanwhile increased by 1.73 percent to stand at 5,807.43 points.

As of 08:23 GMT, Monday, 15 February, Tesco PLC share price is 177.00p.