// Dawood Pervez, the son of Bestway founder Anwar, discussed buying Sainsbury’s with Costcutter founder Colin Graves
// Bestway bought a 3.45% stake in the supermarket last week worth £193m
Bestway executive Dawood Pervez, the son of the firm’s founder, was advised to make a bid for Sainsbury’s 10 months ago as takeover rumours swirl following the wholesaler’s stake purchase in the supermarket last week.
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 snapped up a 3.45% in Sainsbury’s worth £193m last week but 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.
Sainsbury’s shares jumped 6.6% when it was revealed that Bestway had taken a stake.
The grocer said it would “engage with Bestway Group in line with our normal interactions with shareholders”.
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Sainsbury’s has been a takeover target in recent years as firms swoop on the UK grocery market.
The billionaire Issa brothers acquired Asda in 2020 with TDR Capital and US private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice bought Morrisons in 2021.
The Sunday Times reported that private equity firm Apollo Global Management was eyeing a bid for Sainsbury’s last year but opted not to pursue it when the markets took a hit in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Bestway was founded by Dawood’s father, Sir Anwar Pervez in 1976. It started life as a convenience store business but the £4.5bn group now spans wholesale grocery, pharmacy, real estate, cement and banking.
It bought Costcutter in December 2020 and also owns Well Pharmacy, which has 745 branches across the UK.
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