Australian retail giant Woolworths has reportedly registered its interest in Coles Group amid speculation it could join a bid consortium for its rival.
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Woolworths is understood to be mulling whether to bid for Coles’ stationery and department store chains, according to a Dow Jones report today (12 April).
The report cited sources as saying Woolworths has also been approached to join forces with other parties to bid for the whole of Coles.
Two consortiums have so far officially tabled offers for Coles, which is ready to open its books to bidders in the coming days. A group led by conglomerate Wesfarmers, which includes Australia’s Macquarie Bank and two private equity groups, Permira Holdings and Pacific Equity Partners, faces competition from a second syndicate, led by private equity group KKR.
The KKR-led group, which also includes private equity groups Bain, CVC and Blackstone, plans to match the Wesfarmers bid of A$16.47 (US$13.59) a share. The Wesfarmers offer values Coles at around A$19.7bn.
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By GlobalDataWesfarmers told just-food yesterday that it plans to sell off Coles food stores in “three to five years” should it prevail in the takeover battle for the company.
