£10bn US 'bid' for Sainsbury's

Supermarket giant Sainsbury's today became the target of a multi-billion-pound takeover bid.

Shares in the chain rocketed after three private equity firms confirmed they were assessing a possible offer for the company.

The 18 per cent surge in share prices meant Britain's third biggest supermarket chain is now worth almost £10 billion.

Today CVC, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Co, and Blackstone confirmed that they were at the preliminary stages of evaluating taking over Sainsbury's.

In a joint statement, they said: "No decision has been made regarding the relative merits of an offer and as a consequence there can be no assurance that any offer for Sainsbury's will be forthcoming."

The speculation means that the company's shares are now trading at their highest level since 1999.

It is still partly owned by the founding family and members could make more than £1.5 billion from any takeover. The firm has for some time been viewed as a potential target for private equity firms.

The supermarket, which was Britain's biggest until the mid-Nineties, suffered a sharp decline after the Sainsbury family gave up day-to-day control.

A widely-praised advertising campaign fronted by Jamie Oliver has helped turn around the company's fortunes in the past two years.

Sainsbury's declined to comment.