TIMESONLINE: Delta Two, the fund backed by the Qatari Government, has finished sifting through J Sainsbury’s books, signalling that a firm £10.6 billion offer for one of Britain’s oldest supermarket groups could come as soon as this week.
Sources said that lawyers and bankers for Delta Two had completed their due diligence process last week after gaining access to Sainsbury’s proprietary internal data in September.
Their reports are due to be sent to Delta Two’s financing banks - Credit Suisse, Dresdner Kleinwort and ABN Amro – early this week so that they can reconfirm their loans before Delta Two officially launches its 600p-a-share offer to shareholders.
Meanwhile, Sainsbury’s board is set to meet on Thursday and is understood to be ready to give the offer its recommendation.
The move means that the Qataris are within weeks of sealing only the second take-private deal for a FTSE 100 company, the £11 billion leveraged buyout of Alliance Boots earlier this year having been the first.
Although Delta Two is yet to reach agreement with Sainsbury’s pension trustees and the founding Sainsbury family, the supermarket’s board, led by Sir Philip Hampton, has already said that the offer is recommendable, subject to due diligence and financing. Qatari fund on brink of formal £10.6bn offer for Sainsbury’s (more) By Siobhan Kennedy
Mark Alexander
