Robert Tchenquiz is preparing another assault on J Sainsbury in a bid to convince it to spin off the retailer’s property portfolio and buy back shares. Sunday Telegraph, Independent on Sunday, Daily Telegraph
The move follows last week’s collapse of a £10.6bn bid for Sainsbury from a fund backed by the Qatari government.
Tchenguiz, owns 10% of Sainsbury and is sitting on a paper loss of £225m following the bid’s failure.
Tchenguiz’s proposals will be put to the board within weeks.
Tchenguiz feels that Sainsbury is too “wedded” to its real estate, which is worth more than the company’s market capitalisation. Similar proposals that Tchenguiz made to the board earlier this year were rebuffed.
The Sainsbury board is not thought to be against reducing the company’s freehold holdings, but it believes that a wholesale spin-off of its property portfolio is “not the right thing for shareholders”, according to an executive close to the company.