Aug 23 (Reuters) - Shares in Sainsbury’s jumped 11% to a three-year high on Monday after a report over the weekend said private equity firms could launch bids worth more than 7 billion pounds ($9.6 billion) for Britain’s second-largest supermarket. Private equity firms, including New York-based Apollo Global Management, were circling Sainsbury"s, the Sunday Times newspaper reported here. Apollo’s interest in Sainsbury’s was exploratory and the private equity firm remained in talks to join the Fortress-led consortium bidding for Britain’s fourth-largest grocer Morrisons , the report said. Sainsbury’s did not immediately respond to a request for comment. $1 = 0.7327 pounds Reporting by Aditi Sebastian and Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru; Editing by Edmund Blair Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.