British retailer Sainsbury's appears to have dropped out of the running for Superquinn after a spokeswoman said it "has no plans to expand into the Republic of Ireland and does not comment on speculation linking us to specific retailers".

Meanwhile, its rival Waitrose did not return a call seeking clarification of its interest in Superquinn.

Sainsbury's announced last week that it had seen 4.3% like-for-like sales growth for the second quarter of this year, boosted by its "feed a family for under a fiver" promotion with celebrity chef Jamie Oliver.

Superquinn has appointed Goldman Sachs to act for it on any potential takeover bid. Musgrave and BWG were also linked with bids but neither is likely to take over the retailer, which is losing market share. A purchase price of €250m has been mentioned for the group but this is regarded within the industry as unrealistic.