A bid for Sainsbury’s has reportedly been tabled by private equity groups, but according to the national media, family shareholders are not in favour.
Lord Sainsbury, said the Guardian, has “moved to stop them buying the supermarket chain which bears his family name”.
The group are said to have made an offer of around 550p a share to Sainsbury's board of directors, which values the supermarket chain at about £9.5 billion.
Sainsbury's directors are considering the offer, but Lord Sainsbury has made his opposition to a sell-out known. Sources are quoted as saying the bid is "the normal private equity rip-off" and the Guardian’s sources apparently said the peer "couldn't for the life of him see why the board would open Sainsbury's books [for a buyer to finalise a bid] for less than 600p a share".
Elsewhere, it is reported that private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) has pulled out of the consortium making the bid.
KKR's decision to withdraw came after "careful consideration," it said.
