Private equity group Apollo is examining a potential bid for Wm Morrison, the UK supermarket chain that has already agreed to a £9.5bn takeover led by Fortress, a rival investment group.
Apollo said in a statement on Monday that it was “in the preliminary stages of evaluating a possible offer” for the London-listed company.
It comes after Morrisons said over the weekend that it had struck a £9.5bn deal with SoftBank-owned Fortress along with the Canadian pension fund CPPIB and a unit of Koch Industries.
That deal was pitched at 252p a share along with a 2p special dividend, valuing the equity of Morrisons at £6.3bn before the inclusion of £3.2bn of net debt.
Apollo said it had not made an approach to the board. “There can be no certainty that any offer will be made, nor as to the terms on which any such offer might be made,” it added.