Sainsbury’s is thought to have put in an offer for up to 100 Woolworths stores, according to some media reports over the weekend.
Tesco, Waitrose, Morrisons and Asda are believed to be interested in a small number of stores.
Poundland is also said to be interested in buying some stores and Iceland is thought to want about 50.
Woolworths, which has 815 stores, made 450 support and head office staff redundant on Friday.
The retailer called in the administrators at the end of November.
