A team headed by
The consortium, which is made up of Apax Partners, Barclays Capital, Robert Tchenguiz and Kaupthing Bank, initially rebuffed a £1.7bn offer from Co-op but it is thought that a revised offer of around £1.9bn has enabled talks to continue.
Tchenguiz and Apax are two of the key clients that
The mandate will be seen as a welcome boost for the
It is understood that Linklaters has not taken a role for the vendors, despite previously being established as a regular corporate adviser to Somerfield.
As yet, it is not known who is acting for Co-op, though Addleshaw Goddard was tipped as a likely contender as Legal Week went to press. Clifford Chance has advised the supermarket on corporate matters in the past but has denied being involved in the latest deal.
Co-op previously tried to buy Somerfield in 2005, when it was ultimately sold to private equity consortium for £1.1bn. The 2005 deal saw Olswang acting for the Tchenguiz family with McKeeve, then at Linklaters, acting for the consortium as a whole. Dickson Minto advised Somerfield while Eversheds advised the supermarket’s management.
Somerfield runs 900 stores across the country, while the mutually owned Co-op runs more than 2,000 convenience stories and supermarkets nationwide.
The Co-op is now reported to be in exclusive talks with Somerfield, which has been up for auction since last year. Many rival supermarket chains were initially thought to have been interested in the Somerfield takeover when the auction was announced, with Asda, Marks & Spencer and Waitrose all touted as possible buyers.
