Tragus has moved swiftly to head off a counter bid for Spanish tapas chain La Tasca with a new, improved deal worth £99.7m.

Following a shock bid from property mogul Robert Tchenguiz and Icelandic bank Kaupthing on Thursday (29 March), which trumped Tragus’s 185p per share offer, the Café Rouge owner has now upped its offer 7p to 192p per share.

Tragus, which had its original £96m offer recommended by La Tasca’s directors, currently holds a third of the tapas chain’s shares (33.05%).

If La Tasca’s directors do switch their backing to any further bid from Tchenguiz and partners they will be required to pay Tragus a £958,000 inducement fee.

Tchenguiz had offered £98.6m through his investment vehicle R20. He had also stated that he wouldn’t necessarily take La Tasca private and could maintain its public listing on the Alternative Investment Market.

Spanish to group to bid for La Tasca>>

La Tasca in talks to sell business>>

Tragus company profile>>

La Tasca company profile>>

By Chris Druce

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