Two of Britain's top retail bosses are being lined up to front rival £6.5bn bids for the supermarket chain Asda.
Sky News has learnt that Rob Templeman, a former Debenhams chief executive, is working with Apollo Global Management on its interest in the UK's third-largest grocery retailer.
Lone Star Funds, another private equity bidder, has enlisted Paul Mason, who served as Asda's chief executive 20 years ago, to lead its offer, according to insiders.
The recruitment of two of the biggest names in British retailing sets up a heavyweight clash for control of Asda, with formal takeover bids due to be tabled early next month.
Walmart, the US-based retail behemoth, has reignited talks about a sale of a majority stake in Asda following competition regulators' decision last year to thwart a merger with rival J Sainsbury.
Mr Templeman has a long-standing relationship with Apollo, having worked with it during its ownership of Gala Coral, the bookmaker which is now part of GVC Holdings.
A former chief executive of Debenhams, he has also run Halfords, Homebase and Harveys Furnishing Group.
He now chairs the RAC roadside recovery group.
Mr Mason ran Asda until he stepped down in 2001, with his subsequent roles including serving as chief executive of Somerfield.
He has also chaired Cath Kidston, Matalan, New Look and, more recently, Dr Martens.
Last year, The Sunday Times reported Mr Mason's involvement in a plan to create a new supermarket chain backed by Apax Partners, the private equity firm.
The deal would have involved the acquisition of approximately 140 stores that would have been sold by Asda and Sainsbury's.
The latest attempt to offload one of the largest British supermarket chains comes amid intense continuing price competition in the UK market.
Major food retailers have largely performed well this year, particularly during lockdown when shoppers stocked up on unprecedented volumes of grocery products.
In a quarterly update published this week, Walmart said that Asda would focus on expanding its online sales capacity amid a continuing slide in its market share.
Roger Burnley, Asda's chief executive, added that the coronavirus pandemic had "created a structural shift in customer behaviours towards grocery shopping".
"We have accelerated our online capacity expansion to meet levels we had anticipated reaching in eight years within a matter of weeks and we will continue to expand this offer,"
The auction of Asda is likely to conclude before the end of the year, and is expected to involve Walmart retaining a minority stake.
TDR Capital, another buyout firm, is also reported to be considering a bid.
A stock market flotation of Asda is a possibility, although given the growing competitive threat from Amazon and discounters Aldi and Lidl, this is seen by analysts as a more remote prospect.
Asda, Apollo and Lone Star all declined to comment.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiZmh0dHBzOi8vbmV3cy5za3kuY29tL3N0b3J5LzYtNWJuLWFzZGEtYXVjdGlvbi1sdXJlcy1oZWF2eXdlaWdodC1yZXRhaWwtYm9zc2VzLWludG8tcml2YWwtYmlkcy0xMjA1MzEwMNIBamh0dHBzOi8vbmV3cy5za3kuY29tL3N0b3J5L2FtcC82LTVibi1hc2RhLWF1Y3Rpb24tbHVyZXMtaGVhdnl3ZWlnaHQtcmV0YWlsLWJvc3Nlcy1pbnRvLXJpdmFsLWJpZHMtMTIwNTMxMDA?oc=5
2020-08-20 13:03:20Z
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