UK supermarket group J Sainsbury is reported to be bidding for convenience store operator TM Group, owner of the Martins and Forbuoys chains.


The news comes just a few days after supermarket giant Tesco announced that it had offered £54m (US$98.6m) to buy London-based convenience store group Adminstore.


Sainsbury’s is currently up against the Co-op, which also wants to buy TM Group, in an auction process for the 1,300 convenience stores, reported the Independent.


TM Group, which also owns the McColl’s and More newsagent chains, could be sold for more than £200m, the newspaper said.