Investment fund stacks up 25% Sainsbury's share

A Qatari-backed investment fund tightened its grip on Sainsbury’s today after revealing it now owned 25% of the supermarket chain.

Delta Two paid £732m (€1.08m) for another 7% of the blue-chip company, at a price 13p-a-share higher than the 582p a share reportedly offered by a private equity consortium in a failed £10bn (€14.8bn) takeover attempt in April.

The fund, backed by the Qatari royal family, declined to comment on the reason for its acquisition of more shares today.

However, analysts focused on the possibility that Delta wants the chain to realise the value of its property for shareholders by placing the assets into a separate company.

Sainsbury’s has already ruled out such a move as it is reluctant to burden itself with significant additional rental and interest costs.

Another of its major shareholders, property tycoon Robert Tchenguiz, is believed to want Sainsbury’s to inject its property into a tax-efficient real estate investment trust, possibly alongside assets from companies such as Tesco and Carrefour.

Three Delta, which uses Delta Two as one of its investment vehicles, is founded by Paul Taylor, a former business partner of Mr Tchenguiz. They are not believed to be acting in concert.