Sainsbury Declines Comment On Qatari Bid Rumours

7th Jul 2010 10:58

LONDON (Dow Jones)--J Sainsbury PLC (SBRY.LN) Wednesday declined to comment on speculation that minority shareholder Qatar Investment Authority, or QIA, is preparing a bid of around 500 pence a share for the U.K. supermarket group. "We do not comment on rumour and speculation," a spokesman for the grocer said. The QIA was immediately unavailable for comment. Royal Bank of Scotland analysts downplayed the speculation. "Who knows (apart from the QIA and its advisers) is the real answer. This speculation seems to come every three to six months. It moves the share price up 5% and then over the next few days when no bid materializes, the shares come off again," analyst Justin Scarborough said. At 0945 GMT, Sainsbury shares were up 3.9% at 341 pence, valuing the company at GBP6.34 billion--the leading riser in the FTSE 100 Index. The QIA, a 26% shareholder, failed in a takeover attempt for the grocer in November 2007. -By Simon Zekaria, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 207 842-9410; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 07, 2010 05:58 ET (09:58 GMT)