UK supermarket chain Asda is planning to join the £1.1bn bidding war for food retailer Somerfield.
Asda, owned by Walmart, the world's biggest retailer, is looking at either launching an outright bid for the group, or striking a deal with one of the two consortiums currently competing for the Somerfield group.
The Somerfield group also operates the Kwik Save chain and currently has over 1,300 stores nationwide.
Asda would plan to use some of the outlets to expand it's Asda Living non-food chain, which is currently limited to two outlets.
The deadline for the two consortiums, one led by private equity group Apax, the other consisting of property company London & Regional and Japanese bank Nomura, to confirm bids has been extended early next week.
Apax are expected to launch a bid at 205p per share, which would value Somerfield at £1.07bn. The supermarket chain's shares closed at 196p on Friday.
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