LONDON (Reuters) -The biggest shareholder in Sainsbury's, the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), is selling 306 million pounds ($399 million) worth of shares in the British supermarket group, according to regulatory filings.
Shares in Sainsbury's were down nearly 5% in early trading Friday.
The filings show QIA offered 109.4 million shares at a price of 280 pence, about 5% of its holding.
Prior to the offer, QIA had a 14.2% stake in Sainsbury's, according to LSEG data.
Sainsbury's stock closed Thursday at 288 pence, up 12% over the last year.
The group has an over 15% share of Britain's grocery market, trailing only Tesco (OTC:TSCDY), with monthly industry data showing it performing well.
Qatar's sovereign wealth fund has been a Sainsbury's shareholder since 2007. That year its holding peaked at 25% and it abandoned a potential bid. It started selling in 2021.
"Given the strategic nature of the shareholder, we do not see it (the share disposal) being necessarily linked to upcoming events," said analysts at J P Morgan Cazenove, noting the government's budget statement on Oct. 30 and Sainsbury's interim results on Nov. 7.
QIA's other high profile UK investments include a stake in Barclays Bank and London department store Harrods.
($1 = 0.7664 pounds)