Loblaws has acquired the Middle Eastern grocer Ariz Fine Foods. Loblaws says it has identified the demographic as important to its growth. It likened the acquisition to the 2009 purchase of the Chinese food chain T and T. Ariz Fine Foods has 1,050 stores. Some products from Ariz will begin to appear in Loblaws. In other business news, Canadian Tire Corp. has agreed to sell 20% of its banking business to Bank of Nova Scotia for 500 million Canadian dollars ($459 million). As part of the agreement, Scotiabank, Canada’s third-largest lender, will provide the retailer’s financial-services business with credit-card receivable financing of up to 2.25 billion Canadian dollars. The deal also gives the retailer the option to sell another 29% stake in the business to Scotiabank within 10 years.
