A new approach may be on the way for supermarket chain Somerfield which has already rejected a bid of nearly pounds 600 million. Former Abbey National banking executive Gareth Jones was saidyesterday to be in discussions with venture capitalists about making an approach for Somerfield.
Retail entrepreneurs John Lovering and Bob Mackenzie have already made an unsuccessful bid for the chain.
Somerfield chairman John von Spreckelsen conceded that the pace of its recovery had not been rapid enough.
A property revaluation unveiled alongside Somerfield’s results took the company’s asset valuation above pounds 1 billion or around 200p a share.
April’s bid from Mr Lovering and Mr Mackenzie was worth only 120p a share, helping explain why the company turned down the approach.
Mr Jones, who headed Abbey’s wholesale banking division, left the bank in October 2001 with a reported payout of pounds 1.8 million.
The division was later forced to make substantial provisions against investments in companies including Enron and Tyco.
Until August he was also a non-executive director of Somerfield and is understood to be discussing his plans for a takeover with two private equity firms.
A spokesman for Somerfield refused to comment on market speculation.
Somerfield has been involved in a battle to win back market share after hitting problems integrating Kwik Save, which it acquired in 1998.
The company which has around 1,300 stores -including 700 Kwik Save outlets -achieved pre-exceptional profits of pounds 25.8 million after like-for-like sales improved one per cent in the year to April 26.
Mr von Spreckelsen has promised that the pace of Somerfield’s recovery will gather pace this year as the group concentrates on growing its smaller, convenience-style stores. Excess space will then be sub-let to complementary retailers.
