(Updates shares, adds detail, background)
Aug 23 (Reuters) - Shares in Sainsbury's jumped as
much as 13% to a more than seven-year high on Monday after a
report said private equity firms could launch bids worth more
than 7 billion pounds ($9.6 billion) for Britain's
second-largest supermarket.
Private equity firms, including New York-based Apollo Global
Management, were circling Sainsbury's, the Sunday Times
newspaper reported https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/bidders-train-guns-on-sainsburys-sh8228nst.
The report comes as Morrisons, Britain's
fourth-largest grocer, is the subject of the most high-profile
deal in Britain. Takeovers of British firms, led by U.S. firms,
have hit a 14-year high by value in the first seven months of
2021.
The Sunday Times said Apollo's interest in Sainsbury's was
exploratory and the private equity firm remained in talks to
join the Fortress-led consortium bidding for Morrisons.
"If Apollo does not participate in Morrisons' future then we
cannot discount that the PE group nor other mega-finance houses
will consider looking at Sainsbury," Shore Capital analysts
said, adding that Czech investor Daniel Kretinsky retained a
roughly 10% stake in the company.
Sainsbury's, with a market value of around 6.87 billion
pounds, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Qatar sovereign fund is the London-based company's largest
shareholder, with almost 15% of Sainsbury's voting rights.
Last week, Morrisons said its was backing CD&R's 7 billion
pound offer and dropped its previous recommendation for a 6.7
billion pound bid from a consortium led by SoftBank-owned
Fortress Investment Group .
Shares in Morrisons were flat on Monday at 291 pence, above
the level of the agreed proposal from CD&R indicating investors
are expecting a counter bid from Fortress.
Last year, Apollo lost out on buying Asda, UK's No. 3
grocer, to brothers Zuber and Mohsin Issa and TDR Capital. That
deal https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/apollo-global-management-considering-offer-britains-morrisons-2021-07-05
valued Asda at 6.8 billion pounds.
($1 = 0.7327 pounds)
(Reporting by Aditi Sebastian and Yadarisa Shabong in
Bengaluru; Editing by Edmund Blair)
