Bestway ups stake in Sainsbury's

Costcutter parent company Bestway Group raised its stake in British supermarket giant Sainsbury's to 4.47% on Wednesday, less than a week after picking up a 3.45% stake in the UK's second-largest grocer.

Bestway stated the move was an investment rather than the early stages of a takeover attempt but did say it could possibly look to make further purchases of Sainsbury's stock.

Analysts believe Bestway may try and utilise its stake to leverage Sainsbury's into collaborating with it in wholesale areas or pharmacy retail.

Bestway's statement ruling out a bid precludes such a move for six months under UK Takeover Panel rules, unless a rival bid emerges in the meantime.

As of 1100 GMT, Sainsbury's shares were up 0.84% at 264.80p.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com