London, Aug 27 - Superquinn, the Irish supermarket chain, said it had received expressions of interest from British retailers but denied its owners had put the business up for sale.
A spokesman for Superquinn and its owners, Select Retail Holdings (SRH), said "more than one" major British supermarket group had approached Goldman Sachs after the investment bank handled the sale of Bernard McNamara's 14.5 percent stake in the chain in the spring.
"There was a disposal earlier this year from one of the original investors and it would appear that on the back of that there have been some expressions of interest," he said. He declined to comment further beyond stating that SRH "are not actively looking to sell the business".
Irish newspapers have put a price tag on Superquinn of around 450 million euros ($662 million) and named possible suitors as Waitrose, owned by the John Lewis Partnership, Asda, owned by Wal-Mart Stores Inc, and J Sainsbury Plc.
Superquinn has 23 stores and a 7 percent share of the Irish grocery market.
The newspapers said competition rules would probably prevent Tesco Plc, the UK's largest retailer, from buying Superquinn as it is already the second biggest player in the Irish grocery market.
Asda, Sainsbury and Tesco declined to comment.