Cinven gives up plan to bid for Sainsbury - Times

LONDON, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Private equity firm Cinven [CINV.UL] has ditched a plan to bid for supermarket group J Sainsbury Plc (SBRY.L) over price worries after its partner joined forces with a rival consortium, the Times said.

"They thought about it but in the end they concluded thanks, but no thanks," the newspaper cited an unnamed source as saying in its Friday edition.

The Times said Cinven had held tentative talks with Texas Pacific Group [TPG.UL] but Texas Pacific decided to team up with a previously established group of CVC Capital Partners [CVC.UL], Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Blackstone Group [BG.UL].

The CVC-led consortium said at the beginning of the month it was considering a bid for Sainsbury.

Texas Pacific was not immediately available for comment.

With Sainsbury's share price trading at over 500 pence, Cinven decided not to carry on, according to the newspaper.

A comment was not immediately available from Cinven.

Any bid for Sainsbury would be valued at more than 9 billion pounds ($17.69 billion), making it Europe's largest leveraged buyout.