Sainsbury’s to Delta Two: No Pensions, No Deal
THE TELEGRAPH: Members of the Sainsbury family will move to block the Qatari bid for the supermarket chain – unless a deal is struck with the group's pension fund trustees.

The Sainsbury family fear that Sir Philip Hampton, the chairman of Sainsbury, plans to recommend a 600p-a-share offer for the retailer from Delta Two – despite the fact that the Qatari-backed investment fund has yet to reach an agreement with the trustees of the Sainsbury pension fund.

A spokesman for the principal members of the family made clear their opposition to a deal unless the pension fund trustees are on board.

"We have consistently made clear the principles on which we would address any offer. Important among these is that the pension scheme is properly looked after," he said.

Without an agreement with the pension fund trustees, the family is expected to oppose the deal. Sainsbury deal hits deadlock over pensions (more) By Richard Fletcher and Ben Harrington

Mark Alexander

Britain Sells Out to the Gulf
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