Private equity firm considers Asda bid after doubts raised over supermarket merger

Private equity group KKR is looking at options to buy Leeds-headquartered Asda after doubts were last week cast over its £7.3bn merger with Sainsbury’s.

According to press reports, the firm’s interests in Asda are at an early-stage. The Sunday Times, which first reported KKR’s interest, said Tony De Nunzio, a senior adviser at the buyout group, would become the company’s chairman if it manages to strike a deal. Mr De Nunzio was Asda’s finance director and later its chief executive before stepping down in 2005.

The Competition and Markets Authority last week warned that the provisional takeover deal could be blocked over “extensive competition concerns”

The CMA’s final review will be published fully on April 30 but questions are now being raised as to whether the Walmart-owned supermarket will be bought by another firm or floated on the stock market.