this is business live from bbc news with sally bundock and maryam moshiri. sainsbury‘s and asda confirm plans to merge, but will the deal get the regulatory approval it needs? live from london, that's our top story on monday 30th april. supermarket shake—up. .. a promise of no store closures and nojob a promise of no store closures and no job losses. wal—mart plans to off—load control of asda in the uk, teaming up with sainsbury‘s. we will talk you through what is at sta ke. also in the programme... after years of courtship, america's third and fourth biggest mobile phone companies are finally walking down the aisle in a $26 billion deal. and this is how shares are trading

this morning, sainsbury‘s up 16.5%. and we'll be getting the inside track on how the billboard industry remains a multi billion dollar business. today we want to know, as sainburys and asda confirm they hope to combine, are you loyal to a particular brand of supermarket? let us know... just use the hashtag #bbcbizlive. hello, and welcome to business live. it isa it is a very busy start to a brand—new business week. the us retail giant walmart is merging its uk unit asda with the supermarket chain sainsbury‘s in a shares and cash deal. walmart will gain a minority stake in the new company, 42%, and it will receive just over $4 billion in cash for the deal. the combined group will maintain both the sainsbury‘s and asda brands.

it will have 2,800 stores and will make up more than 31% of the total grocery market in the uk, slightly ahead of the current leader tesco. and in early trading this morning, sainsbury‘s shares have soared to almost 20%. speaking in the last hour to the bbc, the boss of sainsbury‘s defended the compa ny‘s belief that there will be no closuers as part of the deal. i stand by our statement. we will not close any stores as a result of this transaction, and the nature of the uk market is incredibly competitive, and customers have a huge amount of choice, and they exercise that choice. and we believe by bringing these businesses together we can lower prices and offer better ranges for our customers, as well as making sure that we do a greatjob of creating opportunities for our colleagues in both businesses, so we think it is a great deal all round. our business editor simon jack joins me now.

i know you have been looking through the publication on this. one thing we have heard from mike cooper, who will be the new ceo of the company, he is saying there will be no store closures and no job losses inside stores, but he has not said anything about what will happen outside of the stores? it is worth unpacking this, he has said no store closures as a result of the merger. no retailer in their right mind would say if market conditions change they would not close stores in the future, they are saying as a result of the deal there will be no closures, in itself a bold claim. they said nojob losses in stores, that still leaves warehousing, logistics,

senior management, head office, buying functions, and there will inevitably be job losses in those functions because that is the only way they can seriously get the so—called synergy they talk about which makes the deal makes sense. a bold claim no store closures but don't expect that to mean no job losses anywhere in the business. why is he saying that now when it is clear it is going to happen? he thinks that, as do appeals to a very different customer than sainsbury‘s appeals to, they can run the brands side by side, a lot of people think that will be a challenge, walk into sainsbury‘s on one side and asked on the other side, you now know that the same person has bought the beans for both stores, a re person has bought the beans for both stores, are they going to be exactly the same in that one, are they going to be the same price in this one as that one? what happens in a sainsbury‘s, where people are used to paying more for their groceries, feel that they are being ripped off compared to asda? it may be that identical items will have identical prices, it remains to be seen. they say regularly bought items could fall by as much as 10% and that is the promise they will take to the competition authorities who will worry taking two medium—sized players and making one giant player will reduce competition, which they say will mean lower prices.

the ceo in his interview with the bbc said 10% in both sainsbury‘s and asda, but they start at different price levels and also sainsbury‘s, doesn't it want to appeal to a different kind of shopper, to someone different kind of shopper, to someone who different kind of shopper, to someone who wants different kind of shopper, to someone who wants something different than when they go to asda? i think that is right, the days of when produced only be a sainsbury‘s, tesco, asda person and people would go to the same supermarket all the time, that has changed, lots of people do a bit of shopping in lidl and a bit of shopping in waitrose, both ends of the value offer, so i think people are a bit more promiscuous, so there is room for more brands in there. i think it will be interesting how they do that, presented those two brands. the reason it has quarters on the hop is because sainsbury‘sjust

bought argos and has been rolling it out in their stores, lots of people bought there was a brand clash there. you could argue the argos asda man which makes even more sense soi asda man which makes even more sense so i think what you are seeing in the share price, a remarkablejob in the share price, a remarkablejob in the share price, is people thinking that a this deal is a good fit, b the competition authorities will let it through, they may have to sell off some stores, and they think that the idea of rolling out argos into asda stores as well, and that in a world where you have got competition from algae and lidl and let's not forget amazon, this is a way of amazon proofing your business, this is something everybody is trying to do as they ponder their next move, it makes defensive centre and there are some opportunities here. 0k, are some opportunities here. ok, simon, good to hearfrom you. so we mentioned sainsbury‘s shares shot up, tesco's down at about 2% at the moment. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news... the chairwoman of australia's largest listed wealth manager, amp, catherine brenner, has resigned following alleged misconduct revealed by a royal commission. the inquiry was told the firm

charged thousands of clients for advice they never received. amp‘s legal counsel has also resigned, and separately a financier is backing a class action lawsuit against the firm. thejockey club, which operates 15 racecourses including aintree, cheltenham and newmarket, has posted record annual turnover for 2017. revenues were up 5.2% to $277 million, with operating profits before prize money also up to $62 million. the marvel studios superhero movie avengers infinity war has set a new record for global box—office sales on its opening weekend. industry observers say it took in $630 million. the takings in north america alone amounted to $250 million — a record for the region. and ifound

and i found out and ifound out today and i found out today that you are a huge superhero fan! i have seen them all, they are brilliant films. i will go and see it. t—mobile and sprint are planning to combine in a mega merger that would create one of america's largest mobile phone carriers. sprint is owned by japan's softbank, whose billionaire founder masayoshi son has been in talks over a potential deal since 2014. katie silver is in singapore with the details... tell us more about softbank‘s involvement. if this passes bogosian, it will be a very big deal. sprint is owned by softbank, were designed by the japanese billionaire masayoshi son. the deal goes back for many years, originally sprint was the biggest company and would have a majority sta ke company and would have a majority stake but since then times have changed and masayoshi son has had to relinquish some of his power, such

as in terms of seats on the board. now softbank will only have four of the 14 votes while t—mobile will have nine. this was a sacrifice but overall it is billed as a big win for him. it will give him a foothold in the us market and he has been trying to secure this since at least 2012. but of course it is subject to regulatory approvals and this is by no means a done deal. masayoshi son has been trying to get into the us market with big stakes in other companies such as the number and the office space company we work. but sprint has been his most high—profile venture and, if the deal goes through, it will create a company that they can really take on people like at&t and verizon, and they hope to get to be the biggest in the five g space. all right, katie, thank you very much indeed. that is a really big story, we will see how that is interpreted when wall street starts targeting, with

sprint and t—mobile trying to tie up. we have some interesting boat today because japan is closed for a public holiday, as was china. that is the dow on friday, robust session in asia. investors are trying to work through the earnings news, the ongoing earnings news around the world but also the geopolitics, of course on friday we had the historic meeting of the leaders of north and south korea, lots of thoughts still on that and what it means for asia. let's look at european markets, all about the retailers today, sainsbury‘s shares rocketed, tesco down, morrison and m&s dallas likely, not a big reaction there. in interesting, casino shares are up today, lots of activity on the retail space in financial markets in europe. let's have a look at the day on wall street. it promises to be a busy week on wall street and it will get off to an early start. even before markets

open we are going to get the latest reading from the federal reserve's preferred measure of inflation. if you stay with me here, it is called the core personal consumption expenditure index and is expected to show that prices in the united states rose at an annualised rate of 1.8%, closer to but not quite at the fed's 2% target. after that we will get earnings from mcdonald's, where we expect profits to rise. americans, it seems, like their latest value meal. that whidbey is for investors, we have a busy week ahead. we will see corporate earnings from appleton pfizer, the federal reserve full—bodied its latest interest rate decision on wednesday and on friday we will get the latest us jobs report. joining us isjessica ground, uk equities fund manager with schroders. good morning, nice to see you. let's talk about sainsbury‘s, its share price come huge rises on the london market for the company, you have announced plans to merge with walmart owned asda. what does the

rise in share price tell us about how shareholders view the deal?” think the positive response, they announced half a billion in cost savings to be delivered over the next two years, so i think that is a positive. the other thing that they will like is the pension liabilities are staying with walmart and because asda has got quite a lot of its own properties the balance sheet looks quite strong. so in terms of the ability for the merger to deliver long—term value, you need to reinvest in online, take out cost, remain competitive, people peeling it is compelling. if it's something we saw coming? in lots of industries you talk about possible consolidation, i know in pharmaceuticals for example it is a co nsta nt pharmaceuticals for example it is a constant conversation, but did we see this coming? i think we knew that walmart was a weak owner of asda, they have significant issues

in their us business which shareholders are asking to put pressure on divestment, the pressure on them to maybe focus on that, brazil and the us looked to be the areas where they would look to divest. so on that point it is not that surprising. let's move on to asia, you have been recently?” that surprising. let's move on to asia, you have been recently? i was in hong kong and singapore, which was great, but they are so much more worried about the trade wars. i think they are worried, naturally, because they export a lot to the us and it has fuelled so much of their grip. they are worried about retaliation and the tone of things, whereas of course here in europe we are more worried about how sustainable will the recovery be? they have had a long part of expansion fuelled by ex—board so they don't want that to come to an end. interesting. jessica, thank you for now, jessica will return and we will talk more about some of the

store with out there and in the papers as well. still to come... we'll tell you about the firm that's spending big on billboards. you're with business live from bbc news. with less than a year to go until brexit, one in three businesses affected by the uk's changing customs arrangement with the eu still aren't prepared. that's according to the british chambers of commerce, who along with the port of dover have compiled a survey of over 800 british businesses. anastassia beliakova, their head of trade policy, joins us now. anastassia, good to have you on business live. tell us a bit about what you have found? the research we conducted with port of dover, and by the way port of dover and eurotunnel, that is where one third

of our trade with the eu goes through. what are research has showed is that many companies offer a just—in—time model even though many are sensitive to changes in customs procedures, they are worried about congestion, many of them are not planning for what is going to come in ourfuture trading relationships with the eu, which means that when there are changes down the line, isn't it fair to say that many of them happened prepared because they're not sure of what they are preparing for? it is very fairto they are preparing for? it is very fair to say that, the endless discussions about whether we are going to be in a customs union with the eu in the future are not helping matters. the additional issue with the focus on the customs union is that many other questions particularly whether they are are going to be checksum chemicals, medicines, products containing animal parts, at the border, whether

these checks are going to take place, that's not being addressed and far too much attention is being put on issues relating to the customs union and not addressing others that are very critical for companies. we will have to leave it there but thank you some watch. the british chambers of, , there but thank you some watch. the british chambers of,, of course with regards to the customs union and four we are heading in the uk, with amber rudd resigning. that's another matter. sainsbury is all over the website, the construction and support services for an interservice reported its profits today, and extremely bad year for them, pre—tax losses were £2114 million for the group, plenty more stories on the website, check us out online. you're watching business live — our top story... walmart is merging its uk operations

asda with supermarket chain sainsbury‘s, it is a share and cash deal. walmart will gain a minority sta ke deal. walmart will gain a minority stake in the new company, 42% double receive $4 billion in cash with the deal if it goes through. a quick look at how markets are faring.... the home secretary in the uk amber rudd announced resignation late last night, not a rudd announced resignation late last night, nota big rudd announced resignation late last night, not a big reaction in pounds sterling, some thought it would have moved off the back of that is because it creates questions regarding the government and its policy with brexit and the make—up of the cabinet, keep an eye on that story. first let's go to the inside track story. as the digital online advertising market grows at breakneck speed, many traditional mediums — like print — are struggling to keep up. the internetjuggernauts google and facebook together now control a whopping 25% of the total global advertising market. but despite the competition

from online — the outdoor billboard market is proving remarkably resilient — it's growing at about five percent a year — and is estimated to reach more than $45bn in global sales by 2021. the uk firm wildstone is just one company which is positive about the future — it's on a $1.3bn acquisition spree — buying up billboard sites across the uk and europe. joining us now is damian cox, the founding partnerfrom wildstone. first of all tell me what exactly whilst on doors, you go around looking for places to put billboards on? sort of, we started as a consultancy in 2010, following a recession private landlords and local authorities were finding it ethical to maintain budgetary requirements, we found we had a chance to unlock revenue from derelict buildings, car parks and

someone so derelict buildings, car parks and someone so they could make a revenue per annum from a building site, in 2015 the company moved into the acquisitions side, we used ancillary cash and we a large steel with an american company a year and a half ago to deploy £1 billion sterling into the european markets to buy billboard assets. these are digital will board so it's no longer the man with the brink changing the poster with the brink changing the poster with a woman with a broom for that matter, the board can be changed very, very quickly to suit the advertiser. definitely, with the emergence of the internet and advertising pumps through to every avenue, gone are the days with the man of the ladder. there are still paper and paste billboards in the market but last year 50% of all revenue came from digital, it's a growing market and it allows advertisers the opportunity to reach their audience at a much faster pace, at 5pm they can advertise their biscuits were cheaper than they were out 4pm. it's a huge advantage. where is the line between

getting the message across and bombarding people with too much in terms of sensory overload when they are trying to drive along a road and have billboards everywhere? it's like any market, supply and demand, if there were billboards at every street corner advertising would not retain value, it's in the industry's interests to maintain specific advertising in specific areas, we are with you, we don't want to see las vegas, we promote that was local authorities. how do we know the impact they have for the advertiser because obviously the driver is looking at the window, you would hope up the windscreen, but most of the passengers may well be looking at another screen switches in front of them, smart device, tablet, few looking the window, on trains or whatever they are moving in and was d riverless ca rs whatever they are moving in and was driverless cars coming to the fore that would become even more prevalent? it's a really valid point, there is a statistical data

used in the market which analyses people and the facial movements when a passable boards and each will board has a red score, with the emergence of new technology which moves to an individual working out what billboards are going to ply, you will see the industry moving toward state. why do you think your industry has removed resilient than others have struggled like traditional advertising in print mediums, that kind of thing, battling, for as the billboard keeps growing? it remains the ultimate cup through, you don't have to buy a magazine from a shop, you can if you decide to, if you drive down the road and there is a billboard at the side of the street, you have to see it, it's difficult not to notice it, it's purely an simple bad. thank you. —— it's purely and simply that. in a moment we'll take a look through the business pages but first here's a quick reminder of how

to get in touch with us. stay up—to—date on the business live page, there is insight and analysis from our correspondence around the globe and we want to hear from you, get involved on the web page. you can find us on twitter. and also facebook. business live, on tv and online, what you need to know, then you need to know it. let's see what other stories are being talked about on social media (tablet) sainsbury is the big story. what are the main stumbling blocks? the grid tesco got the go—ahead but we have a head of the cma whose a very tough

talking former mp, it's definitely going to be under a lot of scrutiny. the combined group will have 31% national market share, they really will drill down and look at individual markets. and individual areas as closely as possible. we heard from the ceo of sainsbury‘s earlier that will soon become the ceo of this newly formed company and he says for customers you will benefit, he is promising a 10% fall in prices of essential items, we asked you for you shop and five. and we've had a big response. james saying amazon fresh, they have the best prices and service, that is the big thing, amazon. he says asda is nearest to home, he missed price—wise, tesco makes clubcard points which makes it worth the effort. asda and tesco makes for us. ronnie says i am loyal to asda because it's my go to since i was a little girl. another reviewer says

only loyal to a card shop but i also use algae and the pine shop for a bulk. that is the key. it's notjust about one retailer for a bulk. that is the key. it's notjust about one retailerfor a lot bulk. that is the key. it's notjust about one retailer for a lot of people. everyone wants convenience. —— aldi and the pound shop. if you are an apple shareholder it's a win, win. it would seem to stop apple expected to boost shareholder returns by about 100 dollars. really interesting, some of the questions, are they giving the money back, less interesting, we are getting and holding onto phones longer. some interesting things coming from the supply chain of some suppliers having a tough time, a lot of people will be looking at the detail of those results with a lot of scrutiny. it's an example of the big american corporation repatriating money, it's the trump tax reforms, a

lot of things rolled into one, the consequences of that. apple for a long time has had a lot of cash on its balance sheet, the fact that it's distributing to shareholders. shareholders waiting for this, surely? a lot of outside pressure on them to do this but it's important they continue to reinvest for growth, we've talked about this disruption, you can't rest on your laurels. jessica, so good to talk to you, thank you so much forjoining us. you, thank you so much forjoining us. all the latest business stories on the website. do go on there if you want an update. keep your tweets coming in on our question about your favourite supermarket. robin says i believe it will be harmful to them and the public, i will look at the market again as a consequence of these companies teaming up. thank you for your views. good morning. hello. plenty of try and a bright

weather across the uk. some of us, the weather will be atrocious, heavy rain and strong winds, disruption likely throughout the day. it's all because this area of low pressure, you can see the weather front associated with it, sticking with you across the far east of england. further north and west, something drier and brighter. atrocious conditions towards the south—east, localised flooding possible, strong winds in coastal areas, in particular some coastal overtopping, further west, some sunny spells toward south—west england and across west wales as well, really with all the cloud and rain, temperatures no better than about 5—7dc. further north and west the temperatures up into double figures, sunny spells in

north—west england, scotland, northern ireland, the odd shower in the north—west of scotland, temperatures between 9—14d. these sort of temperatures pretty disappointing for the time of year, bearin disappointing for the time of year, bear in mind we are in may. as we go through tonight, this area of rain clearing, it might linger across parts of norfolk and suffolk into the early morning, otherwise, clear skies, going to be a chilly night, some frost particularly in northern parts, temperatures getting below freezing but for many starting on a sunny note on tuesday. the sunshine continuing across southern and eastern areas, in the west, cloud and rain moving in towards western scotland, west wales, damages battered towards the south—east, big jump, 11, 14, 15 degrees. tuesday night into wednesday, this weather front moving eastwards, but most of the rain hearing through the overnight period. while it will be

there across lincolnshire, east anglia, the south—east during wednesday, it will continue to clear away, some showers coming into northern and western parts, some heavy on wednesday, otherwise it will be dry with sunshine. temperatures between 10—14d, still below the average but i can offer good news in terms of temperatures, going into the end of the week, they will rise, 19 degrees in london by friday, even in edinburgh and belfast, temperatures in the mid to high teens. goodbye. hello, it's monday, it's 9am, i'm victoria derbyshire — welcome to the programme. amber rudd quits as home secretary, saying she had inadvertently misled mps over targets for deporting illegal immigrants. this is the moment which proved her undoing... and targets for removals, when were they set? we don't have targets for removals. you did. pressure had been building over her

handling of the windrush scandal, in which people with a right to be here were treated as illegal immigrants. we will get reaction from some of the windrush citizens, and from politicians. plus let us know your views, too. it has been called the worst treatment disaster in the history of the nhs. in the 1970s and 80s, almost 5000 patients were infected with hiv and hepatitis c after being given drugs made