Sainsbury's speculation mounts as deadline looms

The private equity consortium circling UK supermarket chain Sainsbury’s could table an indicative £9.5bn (€14bn) offer before the Easter weekend, reports suggested today.

It is understood the group, led by CVC Capital, is planning to approach the chain’s board with an informal offer of around 550p a share as the April 13 “put up or shut up” deadline set by the Takeover Panel looms.

But reports suggest the consortium has so far failed to reach an agreement with the supermarket’s pension trustees over a potential £3bn (€4.4bn) funding deficit, which has been seen as a possible stumbling block to any deal.

It is believed the talks over the pension fund gap will take some time to conclude, putting pressure on the consortium to come up with a fully-funded offer by the deadline.

The private equity bidding group, also comprising Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Blackstone Group and Texas Pacific Group, first announced it was looking into the possibility of a bid at the beginning of February.