Eddie Stobart has said that a major shareholder has made a £55 million bid to take majority ownership.
The trucking and logistics firm confirmed that Douglas Bay Capital Fund (DBAY) submitted the offer to "provide necessary liquidity" in exchange for a 51% stake.
Eddie Stobart said it was considering the proposal which would see its existing shareholders left with 49% ownership of the business.
DBAY previously owned a majority stake in the listed firm, holding a 51% stake until its public listing in 2017.
READ MORE: Shares in Glasgow power giant rise as revenue drops
Figures for October revealed that the private equity group held an 11% stake in the Carlisle-based business.
The haulage business has been at the centre of acquisition interest for a number of months, with DBAY first making an approach for the company in September.
Subsequently, former Stobart Group boss Andrew Tinkler said he was interested in a bid for the business before walking away weeks after.
Logistics giant Wincanton was the most recent to emerge as a possible bidder for the company and still has until November 15 to make an offer or abandon the move.
Littlewoods and Very.co.uk group Shop Direct has secured a £75 million equity injection from owners, the billionaire Barclay brothers, as it looks to cover a hefty payment protection insurance bill.
The group's auditors warned last month Shop Direct could collapse unless it secured an extra £150 million in funding to meet soaring costs of payment protection insurance (PPI) mis-selling claims.
READ MORE: Grandees back new £2m fund to support firms with growth potential
Shop Direct said its owners had pledged the full £150 million, with £75 million set to be pumped in by the end of November.
But it said that while the remaining £75 million is "fully committed", it will look at alternative sources for the second tranche of funding.
It said: "We are continuing to work with our financial advisers to evaluate alternative financing options for the £75 million that will initially remain undrawn.
"The group has no near-term liquidity requirements and is keen to ensure that it has fully explored its financing alternatives to ensure that the best terms are achieved."
Luxury handbag maker Mulberry has revealed widened half-year losses as fewer shoppers visited its UK stores amid tough high street trading.
Shares in the group tumbled 6% as it said British high street sales were impacted, with prices under pressure amid an increasingly promotional market.
READ MORE: JustRight law centre gears up to bring clarity to trans and disability rights
The Somerset-headquartered firm said the UK woes, together with higher investment costs for international expansion, pushed it to a £9.9 million pre-tax loss for the six months to September 28.
This compares with losses of £8.2 million a year earlier.
UK sales dropped 4%, with wholesale revenues tumbling 51% as it focused more on "direct to consumer" sales, while retail rose 3% to £41.6 million.
Retail was boosted by a stronger online performance, while high street trade was knocked by lower footfall in stores.
Mulberry said: "Trading conditions remained challenging with subdued demand from domestic UK customers and an increasingly promotion-led market.
"Performance in this market significantly affected the group's results during the period."
However, it forecast a better second half.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article