WHATEVER measure is used, it is clear that both Tesco and Associated British Foods are pleased with the outcome of the Quinnsworth negotiations.
Sir Ian McLaurin has got the huge share of the Irish market that he so badly wanted, while Gairy Weston has been able to unload retailing interests that are not part of his core business and he can now concentrate on his food manufacturing business.
The sale of the Irish business means that ABF will also not be in the difficult position of selling its own food products to a direct competitor in the retailing industry.
But how good a deal is the £630 million sale for both sides? At 11 times operating profits, it would seem that Tesco is paying a full price for the ABF interests in Ireland, but analysts said that using multiple of profits is not a particularly accurate gauge for measuring the quality of a retail acquisition.
Analysts tend to use "enterprise value" when assessing retail companies - a measure that is a combination of stock market capitalisation (notional in the case of the ABF Irish retailing interests plus turnover.
On this basis, Tesco is paying proportionately less for the Irish operations than it did for the Scottish group William Low last year; 50 per cent of enterprise value compared to 66 per cent in the case of William Low.
But analysts said that this comparatively lower price reflects the quality of assets being bought. William Low was a pure supermarket operation, while the ABF interests in Ireland include pork processing, packaging, off licences and the Lifestyle sports goods chain.
Sources in London believe that ABF made it a condition of sale that Tesco took on all these non food retailing operations.
One analyst commented: "Tesco is paying a fair price but it's hardly a snip." He said the price undoubtedly reflects the quality of the assets - "Some of these are very good, some not so good" - and added that Tesco is probably slightly disappointed that it was not able to confine its buying to the core supermarket business.
The comments from Tesco's finance director, Mr David Reid, that the group would aim to boost the Irish operating margins from 4.6 per cent to around 6 per cent over a three year period will come as no surprise. Sales per square foot of selling space in Irish supermarkets are about half those in the big British multiples, and Tesco will be keen to close that gap.
While industry groups have expressed concern at the impact on suppliers of the Tesco arrival, analysts warned that the British group will probably be very careful about cutting connections with Irish suppliers. "Retailing is all about image, and Tesco will want to retain a positive image in the Irish market. Doing a hatchet job on Irish suppliers would have the opposite effect," one industry analyst told The Irish Times.
Tesco has been at pains, however, to emphasise its keenness to maintain existing supplier relationships, and pointed out that for its British operations it sources £440 million of produce in the Republic and £60 million in Northern Ireland. The big food companies like Kerry and Avonmore are major suppliers to Tesco in the UK, and both are understood to be happy with the trading arrangements they have with the British group.
In the North, industry analysts believe that the takeover of Stewarts and the imminent takeover of Wellworth's by Safeway may now lead Sainburys to seriously rethink its plans for a £100 million investment in a chain of eight out of town superstores.