Apollo is taking an “exploratory” view of Sainsbury’s
Sainsbury’s could be the next supermarket on the hit-list of private equity companies as competition intensifies to takeover Morrisons, highlighting the industry’s appeal to investors.
A week ago the Morrisons board approved a bid by Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) to takeover the supermarket chain with an offer of £7bn.
In addition to Morrisons, the case is being made that Sainsbury’s is a suitable proposition for buyers.
The Sunday Times reported that Apollo is taking an “exploratory” view of the company with the view to making an offer.
Only last year Apollo made an effort to buy Asda, however the private equity firm ended up being outbid.
It is again on the lookout to buy, while remaining fixated on the supermarket industry.
Apollo has previously hinted at a possible involvement in Fortress’s deal to take-over Morrisons which would make the Sainsbury’s deal less likely.
As of now, neither Sainsbury’s nor Apollo have made any comments.
The Sainsbury’s share price is up by 11.17% on Monday morning.