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Supermarket blows £70m on kid-commerce site

We knew nappies were expensive but...

Supermarket Morrisons is spending £70m on buying Kiddicare.com - a UK-based website which flogs stuff for kids and babies.

Morrisons said the big buy was just a first step into developing its ecommerce business. The site will continue to function as a stand-alone site run by Scott and Elaine Weavers-Wright.

The company turned over £37.5m last year and claims 75 per cent growth in the last three years. Some 80 per cent sales are now online.

Kiddicare was founded in 1974 and has the UK's largest baby stuff showroom in Peterborough. It now employs 130 staff who last year dealt with orders from 400,000 customers.

Morrisons said it wanted to use the Kiddicare platform and management to expand its non-food retailing. It expects to launch its first new products in 2012.

The deal closes on 23 March, assuming Kiddicare can satisfy certain conditions - if not Morrisons can cancel the deal.

Morrisons' full statement on the Kiddicare purchase is here. ®

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