By Samuel Indyk
Investing.com – Shares in Sainsbury 's (LON:SBRY) were trading higher by over 12% on Monday morning after the supermarket chain looks set to become the next target of private equity.
The Sunday Times reported that private equity giants are circling Sainsbury’s with a view to a possible bid worth more than £7 billion.
Morrisons Deal
The news that Sainsbury’s is reportedly in the crosshairs of US private equity groups follows a similar story for Morrisons (LON:MRW), who last week accepted a £7 billion bid from Clayton, Dubilier & Rice.
Morrisons had previously accepted a bid from Fortress Investment Group worth £6.7 billion.
Fortress said they would be considering their options.
Apollo Global Management – who is said to be interested in Sainsbury’s – remains in talks to join the Fortress-led consortium that is bidding for Morrisons. The Sunday Times reported that any involvement in a deal for Morrisons could make a deal for Sainsbury’s impossible.
On Thursday, the Fortress-led group said a further announcement will be made in due course.
Sainsbury’s has yet to comment on the most recent rumours.
However, last month on a conference call post trading update, Sainsbury’s Chief Executive Simon Roberts indicated there were no concrete offers for the firm.
“If we had anything to update on, we would be updating on it,” Roberts said.
At 09:35BST, shares in Sainsbury’s were trading 11.4% higher at 328.5 pence per share. Morrisons shares were trading higher by 0.1% at 291.4 pence per share, above the 285 pence per share offer from CDR.