A round-up of supermarket news and gossip
So the unthinkable could happen! As predators circle and the Sainsbury family sells 13% stake of the company. Supermarket shares surged after three private equity firms said that they were considering a bid thought to be worth £10bn for J Sainsbury. The move, which if successful, would mark the biggest private equity buyout of a public company in Britain, was perceived by the city as a sign that the property assets of Britain’s supermarket chains could be unlocked in similar deals. CVC,KKR and Blackstone have confirmed to the stock market that they were in the “early stages of assessing a possible bid”. Sainsbury’s board will consider asking the city regulator to issue a “put up or shut up” order to its private equity suitors if no progress is made on the bid for the takeover.

Scientists are trying to find the source of a salmonella contamination, which has prompted the Co-op, Somerfield and Waitrose to withdraw houmous products after salmonella was found in some Marks and Spencer products.

Somerfield is consolidating more than 1,000 stores across the UK and a number of stores are being refurbished. A new store has also been built in Aberystwyth. Tesco will share a pot of gold with about 50,000 staff. The £148m payout is the result of two saving schemes maturing.The same company has renewed its licence for the Cherokee clothing brand until January 2011.

Kwik Save, said it had secured £50m in new financing from a private consortium of investors led by Paul Niklas, a former chief executive.

Marks & Spencer is to become the UK’s biggest retailer of Fairtrade cotton.

Luc Vandevelde is expected to face pressure to step down as chairman of Carrefour, after falling out with its major shareholder, the Halley family. Carrefour is also set to sign a deal to enter India.

Asda has hired a wind consultant as part of a drive to up the eco-friendly stakes on its rivals, signing a £15m deal with Cornwall-based Green Peninsula to manage its flagship wind project in Scotland in a move that will enable Asda to generate its own power on-site.

John Lewis, the parent company of Waitrose, and employee owned, has stated that sales in its stores had increased by 5.4% during February. In the corresponding period Waitrose increased by 7.1% to £70m.

Royal Mail chairman Allan Leighton could end up running J Sainsbury if a takeover bid succeeds.The man credited with turning around Asda has made it be known that he has an interest. He is likely to ask Archie Norman to join him. The company will assist Asda to develop a 2MW turbine at its depot in Falkirk. It has also been charged with drawing up planning permission for five other sites.

Marks and Spencer name is now linked to the possible bid for Sainsbury.

Food deliveries to J Sainsbury, Morrison,Tesco and Asda could be disrupted by strike action at one of their suppliers. Some 2,000 workers at Grampian Food centers around the country are to be balloted for strike action.

Wal-Mart’s entry into the film download market, as the first retailer to secure agreements with Hollywood’s six largest studios, will be the first of a string of such deals, analysts have predicted. Wal-mart accounts for 40% of DVD sales in the US.

Asda is taking monkfish from its stores in order to protect stocks. The company is concerned about the impact of some fising methods on the marine ecosystem.

The retail grocery market remains buoyant into this year, with sales growing 5% over the same period last year, the TNS Worldpanel grocery market share figures for the 12 weeks ending January 28 show. Tesco remains dominant with a 31.5% share, Asda at 16.8% and Sainsbury’s at 16.5%. Asda is considering changing its 'more for you for less' slogan a year after it was introduced as part of plans to broaden its appeal to customers.

GEMINI