LONDON (AP) — J. Sainsbury PLC yesterday announced the purchase of 24 stores from the Co-operative Group, all but two of them outlets which Co-op acquired in its takeover of Somerfield.

Sainsbury, the third-largest UK supermarket group, said it was paying £83 million ($117 million) for the stores and would spend an additional £45 million refurbishing the stores.

Sainsbury shares were down 0.2 percent at 298.5 pence on the London Stock Exchange.

The deal is subject to approval by the Office of Fair Trading, the UK competition regulator.

Co-operative Group paid £1.57 billion to buy the 3,000-store Somerfield chain.