The grocery store flew to the top of the mountain FTSE 100As traders claim that private equity groups are circling in the hope of initiating multi-billion-pound takeover bids, the company’s risers have boarded the board.
Early trading volume soared to 19 times the nearly 20-day average, and 3.72 million shares changed hands in the first hour after the market opened, boosting supermarketThe price per share is 38.6 pence to 333.30 pence-a seven-year high-bringing its total market value to 7.7 billion pounds.
The Sunday Times claimed yesterday that New York investment giant Apollo was “enforcing the rules” against Sainsbury, which further intensified the feeding frenzy in Morrison’s field, which is in the midst of a 7 billion pound acquisition battle. center.
It is said that Apollo only conducted an “exploratory” review, and analysts at professional investor Shore Capital played down the rumors, calling the title of the report “quite sensational.”
But UBS analysts are more optimistic, saying: “This news once again highlights the attractiveness of FCF. [free cash flow] Since the threat of discount stores has been largely offset and the profitability of large online businesses has improved, the valuation of UK supermarket assets is related to the growing profit pool. “
Sainsbury’s recently announced a 1.6% growth in comparable sales for the first quarter and focused on embedding more of the Argos collection points it acquired in 2016 into stores.
Earlier this year, Vesa Equity Investment (nicknamed “Czech Sphinx”), co-founded by entrepreneur Daniel Kretinsky, increased its stake in Sainsbury’s to 9.99%.
Vesa said at the time that the move reiterated its long-term interest in “acquiring a strategic minority stake in a listed company in the broader food retail distribution sector.”
Other major shareholders of the business include Qatar Holding Company.
Sainsbury declined to comment, and Apollo also declined to comment. The source said the company has not appointed any consultants or lawyers related to the grocery store.
Morrison’s share price also rose slightly this morning, from 0.46 pence to 291.46 pence, as the city is watching whether the consortium led by US investor Fortress will try to beat the latest offer of 285 pence per share from rival Clayton, Dubilier & Rice.
Competitor bidders from the Fortress-led consortium that Apollo considered backing recently made 272 pence each. The latter’s suitors are “considering their options.”
