Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund intends to divest its interests in the second-largest chain of British supermarkets, Sainsbury’s, by almost 4 percent in a term sheet presented on Tuesday, ending its almost two-decade reign as a prominent shareholder in the chain.
According to the term sheet, Qatar Investment Authority plans to provide shares at 317.6 pence ($4.20) per share in a secondary offering with JPMorgan as the sole bookrunner. However, the Sainsbury’s shares surged 23 percent this year and ended at 326 pence on Tuesday.
The sovereign wealth fund of Qatar has been a Sainsbury’s shareholder since 2007. This year, its holding surged to 25 percent, and it dropped a potential bid; therefore, it began selling in 2021.
The fund minimized its holding for about 5 percent by a nearly $400 million share sale in the previous October.
LSEG data reported that Qatar’s fund plans to sell shares of about 265.5 million pounds, cutting its stake to 6.82 percent from the current 10.48 percent. The fund is expected to slip to the fourth-largest shareholder from first place.
Sainsbury’s and the fund did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment. Sainsbury’s, which holds a UK grocery market share near a decade high of 15.3 percent, has stated it expects to deliver retail underlying operating profit of over 1 billion pounds for the year ending March 2026.
Thus, it has a market capitalization of about 7.44 billion pounds as of Tuesday remains close.
