J Sainsbury shares rallied to a nine-year high on Tuesday as market speculation grew that a CVC-led private equity consortium was poised to table an offer for the retailer after the Takeover Panel issued a “put-up- or-shut-up” ultimatum. The panel, contacted by J Sainsbury on Friday, said on Tuesday that the consortium of CVC, KKR, Blackstone and Texas Pacific had until April 13 to put forward an £11bn-plus offer. The consortium announced its interest in the UK’s third-largest supermarket chain just over four weeks ago. Frenzied market rumours of an imminent offer — more than 110m shares were traded on Tuesday, coupled with the announcement that entrepreneur Robert Tchenguiz had bought a 3 per cent stake — sent Sainsbury shares 2.6 per cent higher to 539p, valuing the retailer at about £9.6bn.
