Italy’s supermarket chain Esselunga picks Citi to assess possible bids, say sources: Reuters

The 90-year old founder of leading Italian supermarket chain Esselunga is considering a possible sale and has picked Citigroup (C.N) as adviser to assess expressions of interest by private equity funds, two sources close to the matter said.

One of the sources said CVC Capital Partners and Blackstone had expressed interest in the group, Italy’s third largest supermarket chain with revenues of 7.3 billion euros in 2015.

Citi and Esselunga, founded in 1957 by Bernardo Caprotti and his brothers together with Nelson Rockefeller, declined to comment.