UK regulator criticises Asda over promotion tactics

LONDON, April 27 (Reuters) - Wal Mart (NYSE: WMT - news) 's British supermarket Asda has agreed to change the way it operates promotions after being singled out for criticism by the competition regulator.

Britain's competition body investigated the country's supermarkets and the way they ran special offer promotions following a so-called super-complaint from the consumer watchdog Which?.

Which? said it had identified misleading and confusing pricing tactics in areas such as multi-buy offers at the likes of Asda and market leader Tesco (Xetra: 852647 - news) .

On Wednesday the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it had worked with a number of supermarkets but had particularly engaged with Asda in relation to specific areas of concern.

"We welcome the commitment we have received from Asda as well as the engagement from other supermarkets, and expect them all to ensure that their practices are not misleading and that shoppers are better informed," said Michael Grenfell, CMA executive director of enforcement.

Giving an example of one area that would change, the CMA said multi-buy offers would need to represent better value than a single product before the offer. (Reporting by Kate Holton, editing by James Davey)