The bidding war for tapas themed restaurant chain La Tasca intensified yesterday after the consortium led by property magnate Robert Tchenguiz again raised its offer to trump rivals, Tragus.
THE bidding war for tapas themed restaurant chain La Tasca intensified yesterday after the consortium led by property magnate Robert Tchenguiz again raised its offer to trump rivals, Tragus.
The news sent shares in La Tasca up 2.5%, or 5p to close at 203p, with analysts predicting a further ratchetting up of the bid price.
Iranian-born Tchenguiz cranked up his offer 6% to £104.2m yesterday, the equivalent of 200p-a-share. That tops a 192p-a-share bid last week from the restaurant group Tragus, which is owned by private equity firm Blackstone.
Tchenguiz's consortium, which includes Icelandic banking group Kaupthing and private equity group TFT, said it had also requested a meeting with La Tasca's chairman in the hope of gaining management's blessing for its increased offer.
Tchenguiz made a 188p bid last week to trump the 185p a share bid by Cafe Rouge and Bella Pasta operator Tragus. A day later, on March 30, La Tasca agreed to an increased 192p per share takeover offer from Tragus, which valued the chain at £96m.
In yesterday's statement Tchenguiz's investment vehicle, R20, said TFT and Kaupthing Bank had also bought a 3.06% stake in La Tasca for 200p a share, taking the consortium's stake in La Tasca to 20.8%.
The chain which has four outlets in Scotland - in Aberdeen, Glasgow and two in Edinburgh - floated on the Alternative Investment Market in early 2005 in a move that generated huge gains for its then owners, Penta Capital.
After backing a £28m management buy-in at La Tasca back in 2001, the Glasgow based venture capitalist saw the value of the business more than double.
The company, founded in Manchester, joined AIM with a market capitalisation of some £54m.
It is understood Tchenguiz is hoping to buy La Tasca to merge it with his Laurel Pub Company, while Blackstone is looking to grow Tragus after it bought the group for £267m from Legal and General last December.
Tragus has 48 hours from the time of the latest Tchenguiz bid to respond. A source close to La Tasca said the ball was "now in Tragus' court".
Retail Bulletin, the business website, said: "It is inevitable that there will be interest shown in the other quoted restaurant groups now. Restaurant Group is by far the biggest of the bunch with a market capitalisation of over £700m and has already been on the receiving end of takeover rumours.
"Of the other three main players, Prezzo, Clapham House and Carluccio's are all thriving operators with aggressive roll out programmes and each has only given an indication of their full potential, which must whet the appetites of private equity firms. On that basis, expect higher bids for La Tasca."
