LONDON (Bloomberg) — Shares of J Sainsbury Plc, Britain’s third biggest supermarket chain, rose 1.7 percent on speculation Marks & Spencer Group Plc, the largest UK clothing retailer, may join two Qatari investment funds to make a bid for the company.London-based Marks & Spencer has held internal talks about a possible offer and discussed the possibility of jointly bidding with Delta Two, a fund back by Qatar, the Sunday Telegraph reported yesterday, without saying where it got the information.

Shares of Sainsbury have risen 25 percent this year after buyout firms Blackstone Group LP, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and CVC Capital Partners Ltd. said on February 2 they may make a bid. Combining Marks & Spencer with Sainsbury would create a company with more than 1,100 UK stores and give the former access to Sainsbury’s $7.5 billion worth of property ($14.6 billion).

“Opportunities to buy a national retailer don’t come around very often and this deal would give Marks & Spencer stores in nearly every town in the UK,” said Bryan Roberts, an analyst at Planet Retail in London. “Marks & Spencer is also looking to get into more food and allow Sainsbury to add to its non-food lines.”

Marks & Spencer chief executive officer Stuart Rose declined to comment on whether he was interested in buying Sainsbury when contacted by Bloomberg News today. Sainsbury spokeswoman Pip Wood wasn’t immediately available for comment. Marks & Spencer’s spokeswoman Clair Foster also wouldn’t comment.

Shares of Sainsbury rose 8.75 pence to 512.75 pence in London today. Marks & Spencer stock gained 1.5 pence to 694 pence, giving the company a market value of $11.8 billion, compared with Sainsbury’s $8.8 billion.