LONDON (AFP) -- The British supermarket group J Sainsbury said Wednesday it has received a takeover approach from a Qatari investment group.

""J Sainsbury plc confirms it has received a preliminary approach from Delta Two Limited, which may or may not lead to an offer being made for Sainsbury,"" said a statement to the London Stock Exchange. Delta Two already owns 25 percent of J Sainsbury. According to the Financial Times, Delta has offered 610 pence per share, or about 12 billion pounds (17.8 billion euros, 24.6 billion dollars) for the group. Three months ago, J Sainsbury snubbed a consortium takeover bid, said to be worth about 10.1 billion pounds, from private equity groups Blackstone, CVC, and Texas Pacific Group. Sainsbury employs 155,000 staff and has 769 supermarket branches across Britain. The supermarket chain is the third largest in the country after sector leader Tesco and Asda, which is owned by U.S. giant Wal-Mart