LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Sainsbury's slumped on Friday following reports that its biggest shareholder, Qatar Investment Authority, has placed 109m shares in the supermarket chain.
The shares were placed via Goldman Sachs at 280p each, which is a discount of around 2.8% to the closing share price on Thursday.

At 1000 BST, the shares were down 4.6% at 274.80p.

Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell, noted that prior to the transaction, QIA owned 14.2% of the supermarket chain.

"The Middle Eastern investor has a reputation for backing financially strong companies across a wide range of industries. While it invests with a long-term view, like any asset manager it does make changes to its portfolio from time to time. QIA has been trimming stakes in other holdings of late, including Barclays, Shell, Vinci, Iberdrola and Accor. In contrast, it has been increasing positions in the likes of OQ Gas Networks, Kingdee International Software and Haleon," he said.

"QIA first invested in Sainsbury's in 2007 and at one point owned approximately a quarter of the group. Sainsbury's share price last year bounced back after a difficult period, helped by the company making good strides with its food-first strategy. Like rivals Tesco and Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury's seems to have found the right recipe for success and has been fighting off competition from weaker rivals Asda and Morrisons to take market share.

"QIA might feel that now is a good time to trim its stake in Sainsbury's, selling into a market where other investors have become more interested in the supermarket. The fact it managed to offload a large chunk of shares at only a 2.8% discount to last night's closing price implies there was decent demand.

"QIA selling down following a string of upbeat results and trading updates from Sainsbury's would suggest the investor sees the supermarket now entering a new phase of its life. That's often the point at which an investor also reassesses their commitment to a stock, so selling down shouldn't represent any concerns about the health of Sainsbury's. However, the fact the stock has fallen below QIA's placing price does suggest that some investors have been spooked by the news, wondering why the biggest shareholder is reducing its position at this point in time."

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