Whitbread has said it is considering selling its David Lloyd health club chain after receiving several offers.
The leisure group, which owns Costa Coffee, responded today to press speculation this weekend that the 58-club chain was up for sale.
"In the light of recent press reports about David Lloyd Leisure, the board of Whitbread confirms that it has received a number of unsolicited approaches to acquire the business," a company statement said.
"These are in the early stages of being evaluated to assess whether their further consideration would be in the interests of shareholders.
"The board would like to make it clear that no decision to sell David Lloyd Leisure has been made."
Reports at the weekend claimed that Scott Lloyd, whose father founded the sports club chain, wanted to buy back the health clubs that were sold to Whitbread for £200 million in 1995.
Mr Lloyd, currently head of Next Generation fitness clubs, reportedly values David Lloyd Leisure at £1 billion.
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