A Somerfield advisor has rejected claims that the £1.1bn sale of the chain is in trouble, claiming the rumour is simply an attempt designed to manipulate the group’s shares.
The issue was raised after a newspaper reported that the remaining bidders, a consortium made up of the Apax brothers, Barclays Capital and Robert Tchenguiz, were close to pulling out of the deal. Icelandic retail group Baugur gave up its bid in July and United Co-operatives last week abandoned their part in a rival-bidding group, leaving the consortium as the only serious bidders.
The newspaper attributed the consortium’s doubts to concerns over employee pensions and recent inquiries from the Office of Fair Trading over price-fixing.
The speculation comes after Somerfield was forced to sell stores recently acquired from Morrison’s as due to issues of competition.
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