Investing.com – Sainsbury 's (LON:SBRY) stock climbed 12% in Monday’s trading in London on a report in The Sunday Times that Sainsbury’s could be next in line of acquisition targets for private equity companies.
The report named U.S. buyout firm Apollo Global Management (NYSE:APO) as a likely suitor for the supermarket chain.
Last week, buyout firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice outbid Fortress to win the backing of the WM Morrison (LON:MRW) board for its 7 billion-pound offer ($9.59 billion) to buy the U.K.’s fourth largest supermarket chain.
After Morrison's, it is believed that Sainsbury's is the most obvious target in a field where valuations of public companies have suffered from a chronic discount as Brexit and other problems have kept international investors out of U.K. equities.
In April, Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský raised his stake in the company to nearly 10%, setting off a 30% surge in the share price.
According to the report, what could mar Apollo’s bid for Sainsbury's is the former’s interest in Morrison's. It continues to be in talks to join the Fortress-led consortium to bid for Morrisons and any involvement in that deal may then kill its interest in Sainsbury, according to the report.