Wholesaler and retail conglomerate Bestway Group said today (27) that it has taken a 3.45 per cent stake in supermarket giant Sainsbury’s and it could seek to increase its stake further.
Bestway, which runs the UK’s largest independent cash and carry business, said it paid around £193 million for the 80.8 million shares at a price of 239.4p each, Proactive reported.
Bestway said it intends to hold the shares for investment purpose and is not considering an offer for Sainsbury’s.
“Bestway Group intends to hold its shares in Sainsbury’s for investment purposes and looks forward to supporting the executive management team. Bestway Group may look to make further market purchases of Sainsbury’s shares from time to time, subject to availability and price,” reported quoted the company’s statement said.
In response, Sainsburys said it would “engage with Bestway Group in line with our normal interactions with shareholders”.
Bestway Group is the seventh largest family-owned business in the UK with turnover of approximately £4.5bn. The move will result in the company becoming the sixth largest shareholder in Sainsbury’s.
Bestway, which was founded in 1976 and is chaired by the billionaire Sir Anwar Pervez, is one of Britain’s biggest food wholesalers, serving thousands of retailers.
Apart from being UK’s second largest wholesaler, the conglomerate also owns more than 2,700 convenience stores under the Costcutter and Best-one brands. It bought the Well pharmacy chain from the Co-op in 2014 and has 760 outlets.
It also has interests in real estate, cement and banking sectors and employs more than 28,000 individuals across the UK, Pakistan and the Middle East.
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