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.<\/p>\n
Retail entrepreneurs John Lovering and Bob Mackenzie have already made an unsuccessful bid for the chain.<\/p>\n
Somerfield chairman John von Spreckelsen conceded that the pace of its recovery had not been rapid enough.<\/p>\n
A property revaluation unveiled alongside Somerfield’s results took the company’s asset valuation above pounds 1 billion or around 200p a share.<\/p>\n
April’s bid from Mr Lovering and Mr Mackenzie was worth only 120p a share, helping explain why the company turned down the approach.<\/p>\n
Mr Jones, who headed Abbey’s wholesale banking division, left the bank in October 2001 with a reported payout of pounds 1.8 million.<\/p>\n
The division was later forced to make substantial provisions against investments in companies including Enron and Tyco.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
A spokesman for Somerfield refused to comment on market speculation.<\/p>\n
Somerfield has been involved in a battle to win back market share after hitting problems integrating Kwik Save, which it acquired in 1998.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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