Sainsbury to appoint David Tyler as chairman-papers

LONDON, Sept 13 (Reuters) - British supermarket chain J Sainsbury (SBRY.L) has chosen ex-GUS finance director David Tyler as its new chairman, according to The Sunday Times and The Sunday Telegraph.

The newspapers said Tyler will replace Philip Hampton, who is leaving to focus on his chairmanship of state-controlled Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L).

Tyler spent nine years as finance director of GUS, the former conglomerate that once owned Argos (HOME.L) Experian (EXPN.L) and Burberry (BRBY.L), and is also chairman of IT services group Logica (LOG.L) (LOG.AS).

The reports said the appointment had been approved by shareholders.

A spokeswoman for Sainsbury declined to comment.

(Reporting by John Bowker; Editing by Jason Neely)