Sainsbury’s is preparing a bid for the largest remaining independent player in the convenience store sector.

The supermarket chain is prepared to pay around £130 million for TM Group, which owns the Martins and Forbuoys chains with about 1,200 shops.

However, it is thought the store may face competition from Co-op, who is also interested.

TM Group’s investment bank is understood to be looking for a figure between £200m and £250m. In the 12 months to November 2002 it had sales of almost £700m.

Sainsbury’s already owns 109 convenience stores in the form of its Sainsbury’s Local and Sainsbury’s Central stores. A spokesman for the group said: “We are always interested in looking at new opportunities but we are not ready to announce anything yet.”

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