The battle for control of PizzaExpress took a new turn this week as a rival group of venture capitalists said it had begun discussions that could trump former chairman Luke Johnson's £263m bid to take the chain private.
Venture capitalists TDR Capital and Capricorn Ventures International said they were in talks with PizzaExpress' directors about a potentially higher offer for the chain.
Their move comes hard on the heels Johnson's bid. Together with former chief executive Ian Eldridge, Johnson made a 367p-a-share offer for the chain at the end of February, through a new company called Venice Bidder.
TDR and CVI said they were finalising the financing arrangements of a bid and added: "An offer, if made, would be at a premium to the offer made by Venice Bidder." However, they stressed that any bid for the 311-strong chain was unlikely to be announced before the weekend.
There has been speculation that the two venture capitalists could bid between £269m and £276m, equivalent to 375p to 385p per share, for the pizza chain, which has spent the past few months weighing up a variety of approaches, including one from its own management.
In February, PizzaExpress reported an 18% drop in half-year profits, to £17.8m, weighed down by a 4.8% decline in like-for-like sales and a 10% dip within London.