Sainsbury’s shares rocket: Investors eye supermarket’s property portfolio
Sainsbury’s shares were up 15 per cent cent after reports that a private equity giant is poised to launch a bid topping £7bn.
Shares in J Sainsbury rose by 15 per cent on Monday to 338.89p, after closing on 294.70p.
Apollo Global Management is reportedly considering a bid for the supermarket after previously losing out on an opportunity to take control of Asda.
The firm is in ongoing talks over joining a consortium connected to Japanese private equity firm Softbank, which is bidding for supermarket Morrisons.
Earlier this summer, private equity firm Apollo pulled out of takeover talks to acquire Morrisons and said it would not make an offer other than as part of the Fortress-led consortium.
The supermarket’s shares are now up 43 per cent this year.
The reports come as Clayton, Dubilier & Rice agreed a £7bn offer for Morrisons last week.
“Similarly to Morrisons, Sainsbury’s is very attractive to private equity investors because of its property portfolio. Sainsbury’s also has two other advantages, a very loyal customer base and a strong digital strategy,” Ross Hindle, analyst at Third Bridge, explained.
“The group has self-checkout and was an early adopter of customer self-scanning. Usage of the Sainsbury’s app has seen an enormous spike during Covid and the customer stickiness it is driving is remarkable.”