Sainsbury, Asda 'very unlikely' to appeal UK regulator's verdict - Financial Times

(Reuters) - Sainsbury's and Asda, the British arm of U.S. retailer Walmart, are "very unlikely" to appeal against the verdict of Britain's regulator on their proposed merger, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.

A person with knowledge of the situation told the FT: "An appeal is still an option, but I would regard it as very unlikely."

Britain's competition regulator will publish its final report on Sainsbury's proposed 7.3 billion pound takeover of rival Asda on Thursday, with analysts and competition lawyers seeing little chance of the deal proceeding.

Sainsbury and Asda were not immediately available for comment.

(Reporting by Mekhla Raina in Bengaluru; Editing by Angus MacSwan)