Costcutter owner Bestway snaps up £193m share of Sainsbury’s
One of Britain’s biggest family-owned businesses has snapped up a £193m stake in Sainsbury’s.
Bestway, which owns Costcutter and Bargain Booze, said it had acquired a 3.45pc holding, equivalent to around 80.7m shares, in the supermarket, which is the UK’s second biggest.
Based on Sainsbury’s share price at close on Thursday of 239.4p, the acquisition would be valued at around £193.4m.
Bestway said it had no plans to make an offer for the grocer but said it may look to purchase more shares at a later date.
Sainsbury’s confirmed in a statement: “We will engage with Bestway Group in line with our normal interactions with shareholders.”
However, Bestway has the right to make an offer with the agreement of Sainsbury’s or if another business puts a deal on the table, it said.
Takeover speculation has swirled around Sainsbury’s for some time as Britain’s supermarket industry becomes increasingly consolidated.
Last year US private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice completed the highly leveraged takeover of Morrison.
Bestway is the seventh largest family-owned business in the UK with turnover of approximately £4.5bn.Starting off as a chain of convenience stores in 1963, Bestway is now a diversified multinational business with interests across the wholesale, pharmacy, real estate, cement and banking sectors.
