SIX POTENTIAL bidders have expressed interest in Superquinn and the owners of the supermarket chain have instructed their advisers to evaluate each approach.
All of the potential offers have come from retailers, including Irish wholesale groups Musgrave, BWG, and UK supermarket chains Asda and J Sainsbury.
Tesco, which has a 26 per cent share of the Irish market, has made it clear that it is not interested in buying Superquinn.
At least two approaches have been received for the supermarket in the past week and informed sources haven't ruled out the possibility of a seventh expression of interest emerging in the coming days.
The approaches relate to Superquinn's operating business only and do not involve the acquisition of any properties.
Select Retail Holdings is said to value the operating business at €250-300 million following a strong turnaround in the trading performance of Superquinn in the past couple of years.
The supermarket generated sales of some €620 million in 2007 and this is expected to rise to about €680 million this year.
The company has been returned to profitability since Select Retail Holdings bought the business in 2005 from Senator Feargal Quinn and his family for some €450 million.
Interested parties have been informed that Superquinn is generating earnings before interest, tax and finance costs of €10-15 million a year although its share of the market has slipped below 8 per cent.
The multiple opened its 24th outlet last week in Portlaoise and its chief executive Simon Burke has consistently stated his intention to grow the chain to 35 stores.
The process is being handled for Select Retail Holdings by Goldman Sachs in London, which has provided a limited amount of financial information to interested parties.
Irish law firm William Fry is providing legal advice and the corporate finance arm of KPMG will handle the due diligence process.
Select Retail Holdings received an approach in March from Sainsbury, according to sources. The process gained momentum in the past couple of months when an unsolicited offer was received from Asda, owned by American retail giant Wal-Mart.
Rumours of Asda's interest in expanding its business into the Republic have circulated for years. Recent speculation suggested that it was looking at locations in Border areas and had acquired a site in Sligo. The company already has a chain of shops in Northern Ireland.
One source said the owners of Select Retail Holdings were not being forced to sell the business but will consider any serious offers. Superquinn's backers include developer Jerry O'Reilly, property consultants David Courtney and Bernard Doyle, and hotelier Terry Sweeney.
While UK retailers would be seen as having deep pockets, the Cork-based Musgrave group, which operates the SuperValu and Centra chains, is expected to mount a bid for Superquinn. Musgrave's SuperValu chain is under-represented in Dublin. Acquiring Superquinn would resolve that for Musgrave.