April 27, 2007	Friday	Rabi-us-Sani 09, 1428

LONDON, April 26: Qatar on Thursday became the leading shareholder in J Sainsbury, Britain's third biggest supermarket chain, extending the Gulf state's economic reach into the country.

Qatari investment fund Delta Limited said in a statement it had bought more than 302 million shares in J Sainsbury on Wednesday.

Added to 300,000 shares already owned by Qatar Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabr al-Thani, the gas-rich state owned 17.424 per cent of the supermarket company.

The Sainsbury family, which founded the group in 1869, owns about 14 per cent.

Earlier this month J Sainsbury snubbed a consortium takeover bid for the group said to have been worth about 10.1 billion pounds (14.9 billion euros, $19.9 billion).

Qatari interests are also trying to secure a major property portfolio in plush west London.

The share price in Sainsbury rebounded on news of Qatar's fresh investment, and was later flat at 568 pence on London's rising FTSE 100 index.

That gave the group a stock market capitalisation of 9.9 billion pounds.

Sainsbury employs 155,000 staff and has 769 supermarket branches across Britain.

The supermarket chain is the third largest in the country after sector leader Tesco and number two Asda, which is owned by US giant Wal-Mart.

Earlier this month private equity groups Blackstone, CVC and Texas Pacific Group abandoned their consortium takeover plans for J Sainsbury.

According to newspaper reports, the consortium had increased its informal bid for the company to 582 pence per share.

However, media reports suggested the proposed offer price had failed to win over the Sainsbury family, which is reportedly holding out for 600 pence per share.

Sainsbury, meanwhile, is not Qatar's only current major investment in Britain. The Middle East nation is said to be a key investor in a ritzy development that will overlook Hyde Park when completed in 2009.—AFP