Shares in the UK's fourth largest supermarket chain, WM Morrisons, spiked this morning amid reports that the company's founding family has contacted private-equity funds to gauge interest in a buyout deal.
According to Bloomberg, people close to the matter say that Morrisons contacted Apax, CVC Capital Partners and the Carlyle Group in order to sound out interest in taking the retailer private.
Bloomberg said that while Apax had decided not to pursue a deal, the other two have discussed working together on a joint bid.
The Morrison family have a 9%-10% stake in the retailer. Any buyout deal would be around £7 billion and there is no certainty of a deal taking place.
Shares in Morrisons rose 3.2% in early morning trading.
© 2014 - European Supermarket Magazine by Enda Dowling
