A Qatari investment group confirmed it had bought a 17.4 percent stake in supermarket chain J. Sainsbury Plc, strengthening expectations the former bid target faces renewed pressure to sell property.
Delta (Two) Ltd, a vehicle of the Qatari royal family, said on Thursday it had bought 302 million shares in Sainsbury. It did not say how much it paid for the shares. Market sources said on Wednesday a Qatari investment fund purchased 250 million shares at 575 pence, an 8.5 percent premium to the previous day's closing price. That 14 percent stake was worth 1.35 billion pounds.
Exane BNP Paribas analyst Tim Attenborough said he believed the Qataris did not aim to launch a bid for Sainsbury, which faced a private equity offer this month, but would use their stake as a lever to force it to release value from its property. "This increases the likelihood there will be a property-related deal," he said in a note on Thursday.
Alliance Bernstein, which held 254 million shares in the company, according to Reuters data, has declined to comment on speculation it sold its stake to the Qataris. Sainsbury escaped a 10.1 billion pound private equity bid by CVC Capital Partners this month pitched at 582 pence a share, following opposition from the company's founding family, which owns a stake of about 18 percent.