KKR group may seek partner for Coles bid-source

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By Victoria Thieberger

MELBOURNE, April 13 (Reuters) - A Kohlberg Kravis Roberts-led consortium pursuing Australian retailer Coles Group Ltd. CGJ.AX is considering partnering with a listed company in its bid, which could make the offer more attractive for Coles shareholders.

KKR [KKR.UL] is facing a potential bidding war with conglomerate Wesfarmers Ltd. (WES.AX) for Australia's second-largest retailer, which has offered A$19.7 billion ($16.4 billion) in a combination of cash and shares. It would be the country's biggest ever takeover.

Analysts have said Wesfarmers may have an advantage with shareholders since the scrip portion of its bid offers capital gains tax relief, which a cash-only bid cannot match.

"Options are clearly being assessed," a source familiar with the situation told Reuters on Friday.

"It's premature to suggest that any agreements one way or the other have been made," the source added.

Local media have said Australian supermarket retailer Woolworths Ltd. (WOW.AX) is interested in finding a partner to make a possible bid for the Coles group or some of its divisions.

Woolworths has said it has sufficient funds to make a number of acquisitions, but has declined to comment on Coles.

Partnering with a listed company would provide the KKR-led consortium of six private equity firms with the option of offering shares as part of a renewed bid for Coles. It had two offers rejected last year. "Capital gains tax relief is a big issue for shareholders considering the offer," said White Funds Management investment manager Atul Lele, holder of Coles shares.

"This would certainly assist KKR in producing a comparable and potentially a better bid than Wesfarmers, depending on how it stacks up," he said.

The KKR consortium includes Bain, CVC [CVC.UL], Blackstone Group [BG.UL], Carlyle Group [CYL.UL] and TPG [TPG.UL].

On Tuesday, Coles management said KKR had told the company it was confident it could match or beat the Wesfarmers bid for Coles, raising the prospect of a bidding war between the two.

The Coles board, which put itself up for sale in February after a planned turnaround strategy failed to improve supermarket sales, has pointedly not given its backing to Wesfarmers and urged shareholders not to sell.

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