Bestway executive Dawood Pervez, son of the firm’s founder, discussed buying Sainsbury’s with Costcutter founder Colin Graves ahead of acquiring a stake in the supermarket last week.
The wholesale group bought a 3.45% stake in the supermarket chain last week worth £193 million, which caused rumours about a takeover of Sainsbury’s to stir.
Shares for the big 4 grocer jumped 6.6% when it was revealed that Bestway had taken a stake, as it has been a takeover target in recent years as firms swoop on the UK grocery market.
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Costcutter founder Colin Graves told The Telegraph that he had discussed making a swoop for the supermarket with Pervez last year.
He said: “Bestway’s stakebuilding in Sainsbury’s did not come as a complete surprise to me.
“I had dinner with Bestway Wholesale managing director Dawood Pervez 10 months ago and he asked for advice on what to do with the wider Bestway business. His concerns were that the group needed pulling together rather than being fragmented as it is currently.
“I told him that the simplest answer would be to go out and to take Sainsbury’s private and combine the two groups. And it now looks like Bestway has taken my advice.”
The wholesale group denied that it planned to make a takeover bid. However, it said it may buy more shares at a later date and even directed interested sellers to its broker Redburn.
The grocer said it would “engage with Bestway Group in line with our normal interactions with shareholders”.
The news comes as analysts have been speculating about the reasons behind wholesale group Bestway acquiring a 3.5% stake in Sainsbury’s, worth around £193 million.
