The Sainsbury family may try to derail a 10.6 billion pound ($21.6 billion) offer for the UK supermarket group which bears its name if bidder Delta Two does not strike a deal with pension trustees, newspapers said.
The Financial Times said on Tuesday that Qatari investment fund Delta Two had put forward a cash proposal of about 1 billion pounds for the pension fund of J Sainsbury, but that the trustees were asking for 1.75 billion pounds.
The Sainsbury family own about 18% of Britain’s third-biggest supermarket group and were instrumental in blocking a 582-pence-a-share bid from private equity firm CVC Capital Partners earlier this year.
“We have consistently made clear the principles by which we would address any offer,” newspapers quoted the Sainsbury family as saying in a statement. “Importantly, these include ensuring the pension scheme is properly looked after.”
Weekend newspapers said Sainsbury’s board was set to agree the 600-pence-a-share cash bid from Delta Two later this week.
None of the parties could immediately be reached for comment.
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