British online supermarket Ocado has struck an overseas deal with an anonymous European retailer, leading its shares to surge.
The company has promised to sign an agreement with an international retailer for over a year and a half. And with the deal finally secured, its shares soared by nearly 6% this morning, trading at their highest level for over a year.
The retailer announced yesterday that it would share its logistics service Ocado Smart Platform (OSP) with the company that wishes to remain anonymous. However, the retailer will not use Ocado’s automated warehouse technology, meaning orders would be fulfilled from it manually operated warehouse. The deal does provide the partner the right to request the installation of the equipment in the future.
Ocado chief executive Tim Steiner said: “We are delighted that our partner has decided to adopt OSP for its online operations.
“This is an exciting step in the evolution of our business and in the delivery of our strategy. The benefits of our integrated solution are clear. As this particular retailer looks to develop its online offering, the agreement we have signed provides the flexibility to expand its capacity efficiently in the future.
“We look forward to working closely with our new partner in the months and years ahead. Our discussions with other retailers across the globe are ongoing and we continue to expect to sign multiple deals in the medium term.”
This will be the third such deal Ocado has secured, alongside its current online delivery services for Morrisons and Waitrose.
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