KKR denies Sainsbury’s takeover
No plans, says US buy-out firm
November 2 2003
US buy-out specialist Kohlberg Kravis Roberts has denied a report that its is running the slide rule over UK supermarket chain Sainsbury’s.
The Mail on Sunday has reported that KKR has signed up form Asda boss Archie Norman to broker a deal with the Sainsbury family, which holds almost 35 per cent of shares in the UK’s number three supermarket operator.
A source close to KKR told news agency Reuters: “The company is neither working with Archie or looking at Sainsbury at this time.”
KKR considered a bid for Safeway earlier this year, but rejected a move when it became apparent that the Competition Commission would limit any buyer’s scope to sell packages of stores on to other major operators. Norman was part of the Asda senor management team which sold the business to Wal-Mart in 1999.
Despite KKR’s denial, the report increases the City’s conviction that Sainsbury’s is now one of UK retail’s biggest takeover targets.
