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Article: Don't expect Sainsbury bid until after Easter as private equity begins to lose its nerve ; OUTLOOK
- Article from:
- The Independent (London, England)
- Article date:
- March 28, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2007 The Independent - London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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With their predictable cash flows and weighty freehold property
portfolios, supermarket groups have long been thought natural
targets for private equity. What could be less surprising, then,
than the emergence of not one but two private equity consortia
apparently interested in acquiring J Sainsbury?
Yet when Safeway was up for sale three or four years ago, the
bankers searched in vain for a financial buyer prepared to take on
an apparently attractive asset filled to the brim with mouthwatering
freeholds. Back then, it cost a lot less to buy these companies than
it does now, so why the lack of interest? Ignoring the obvious -