Woolworths, Australia’s largest retailer, yesterday said it was still interested in rival Coles’ non-supermarket assets. Financial Times

Coles this year agreed a A$21.9bn takeover bid from Australian conglomerate Wesfarmers. However, the value of the cash-and-shares offer has since fallen below A$20bn because of weakness in Wesfarmers’ share price.

Woolworths had previously shown interest in Coles’ retail divisions, including Kmart, the discount department store group, fashion retailer Target and Officeworks, the office supplies division.

Wesfarmers said this month it would consider selling Kmart, but it is unlikely to make a sale to a direct competitor.