Sainsbury's has secured the freehold rights to one of its supermarkets this week in a further rebuff to property entrepreneur Robert Tchenguiz's attempts to split the company into an opco/propco operation.

Last month it rejected the 5% shareholder's attempts to extract value from the company's property portfolio. This week it secured a deal that will increase its freehold estate, which was recently valued at £8.6bn, buying the freehold rights to its Welwyn Garden City store, which will enable the expansion of the 18,000 sq ft supermaket, as well as the rights to a large piece of the town's retail property.

The deal was "part of the company's drive to secure greater control over the store estate," said Robert Oxley, Sainsbury's development executive for the east of England.

At Sainsbury's results last month, the chain reiterated that property had always been at the heart of its business and was closely aligned to the success of the operation. It has put together a property matrix that identifies which stores to buy, sell and re-gear.

"We take a very rational approach to buying the freeholds on our properties and each opportunity is judged on its merits," said a Sainsbury's spokeswoman.

Topics