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Article: City: Wal-Mart goes on a supermarket sweep It was a bad week for Sir Geoff Mulcahy. But after seeing Asda snatched from his grasp, Neil Bennett found him ever more determined
- Article from:
- The Sunday Telegraph London
- Article date:
- June 20, 1999
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 1999 The Sunday Telegraph London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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Sitting in a hotel room in Shanghai at midnight last Thursday,
Sir
Geoffrey Mulcahy, Kingfisher's chief executive, had every reason to
feel sorry for himself. His dream of becoming Europe's most powerful
retailer had been shattered, he had suffered an embarrassing exodus
of senior staff and there he was, 6,000 miles from home, saddled
with
the job of opening a new B&Q warehouse in China.
"I have learned over many years that life is like that. It would
have been a great deal for both sets of shareholders but it was not
to be. It is in the past now, and we have to look at the future."
Last Monday, Mulcahy was astonished when he took a call from
Archie Norman, Asda's chairman, at 7.10am. ...