Bestway Group has bought a 3.45% stake in Sainsbury’s, worth around £200m. Whilst the wholesaler and convenience store business stated that it was not considering an offer for the supermarket, it did say it might make further purchases of Sainsbury’s shares in the future.
The family-backed conglomerate, which owns the Costcutter and Best-one symbol groups, said it would hold the shares in Sainsbury’s for investment purposes and “looks forward to supporting the executive management team”.
Meanwhile, Sainsbury’s issued a statement saying it would engage with Bestway “in line with our normal interactions with shareholders”.
Bestway’s portfolio also includes the Well Pharmacy chain and cement and banking businesses in Pakistan, with a turnover in excess of £4.5bn.
The 3.45% stake makes Bestway Sainsbury’s sixth largest investor. The news lifted Sainsbury’s shares by almost 6% in early trading to their highest since April 2022.
Earlier this month, Sainsbury’s reported better-than-expected Christmas trading figures and forecast that its full-year profit would now come in towards the upper end of its guided range.
Sainsbury’s has been subject to several takeover rumours in recent years after its plan to merge with Asda was blocked by competition regulators in 2019.
NAM Implications:
- For those wondering, Sainsbury’s latest Market Cap = £5.6bn.
- Just saying…
- Meanwhile, as the 6th largest shareholder…
- … here should be more informed exchanges re Sainsbury’s business strategies…
- …as in “looks forward to supporting the executive management team”.
- Explore Bestway.
