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Supermarket Sainsbury’s has seen its shares fall after its long-time largest shareholder sold his stake in the supermarket, ending almost 20 years as its top investor.
shares The FTSE 100 firm fell 4% in Wednesday trading after Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund said it planned to reduce its stake by about 4%, from 10.5% currently to 6.8%.
The stake sale means Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund will no longer be the largest investor in Sainsbury’s for the first time since 2007. Royal Mail The owner, Czech billionaire Daniel Kratinsky, became its largest shareholder.
Queue The Investment Authority (QIA) said after market close on Tuesday it planned to sell 98 million ordinary shares in Sainsbury’s, but did not give a reason for the sale.
It follows a recent surge in Sainsbury’s shares, which have risen by almost a quarter so far this year.
QIA’s stake peaked at 25% in 2007 – the year the group also abandoned a potential takeover bid for the retail giant.
It has been selling its stake since 2021.
Sainsbury’s recently upgraded its annual outlook, saying it is now set for retail revenue of more than £1bn after a better-than-expected half-year performance.
The UK’s second-largest grocer, which also owns the Argos chain, reported underlying operating profit of £504 million in the 28 weeks to September 13, slightly up from £503 million last year and better than the group forecast.
The group revealed talks to sell Argos in September Sugar e-commerce giant JD.com, but discussions quickly ended after they failed to agree on terms and price.