Britain’s third-biggest supermarket chain is understood to be in the early stages of assessing a bid for B&M, which is chaired by the former Tesco boss Sir Terry Leahy. It would be the latest in a series of surprising swoops by the leading grocers, which are trying to diversify away from food and fill space in their out-of-town stores as the German discounters Aldi and Lidl eat into their market share.
Sainsbury’s bought the catalogue retailer Argos for £1.4bn last year and is in talks to acquire the convenience store chain Nisa for £130m. Tesco faces a lengthy competition inquiry to complete its £3.7bn acquisition…