Sainsbury's puts Nisa takeover talks on hold

Sainsbury’s, which came under fire from shareholders in July over three years of falling profit and the prospect of a fourth in its current year, wants to wait until the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) publishes provisional findings of its probe of Tesco’s proposed £3.7bn takeover of Booker.

Britain’s second biggest supermarket is understood to have tabled a £130m bid for Nisa, whose 1,300 shopkeeper members run 3,000 stores, as part of a response to Tesco’s merger with Booker.

However, a source has said: “Sainsbury’s has decided to pause discussions with Nisa until it better understands how the CMA would review any deal.” The CMA’s report into the takeover of Britain’s biggest grocery wholesaler is due to be published at the end of October. Although Sainsbury’s has put its talks with Nisa on hold for now, the wholesaler’s chairman Peter Hartley told its shopkeeper members on Monday that although exclusive talks had ended, a deal with the supermarket chain was still possible.

“Sainsbury’s have made it clear they remain interested in continuing to work with Nisa and potentially making an offer for the company, but they have informed us that they do not feel sufficiently comfortable to do so until they have greater clarity over the evolving regulatory and competition considerations,” he said.

The convenience store sector is forecast to grow 17.7 per cent to £47.1bn in the five years to 2022, according to industry research group IGD.