Restaurant chain La Tasca has said that it is considering its position after a consortium led by Iranian property magnate Robert Tchenguiz upped its offer for the group yesterday.
The move increases the likelihood that Mr Tchenguiz's consortium could now win a bidding war for the Spanish tapas chain after takeover rival Tragus announced that it would not be increasing its own offer for the company in light of the development.
Mr Tchenguiz's consortium, which includes the Icelandic bank Kaupthing Limited and private equity group TFT, offered £104.2 million for La Tasca in its latest bid, up from the initial £98.6 million it initially offered by the group.
The 200 pence a share offer for Manchester-based La Tasca beats the last offer made by restaurant group Tragus, which increased its own bid to 192 pence a share last week.
Tragus, which owns the Café Rouge chain of restaurants in the UK, had originally offered 185 pence for La Tasca.
After declining to increase its offer further, Tragus said that it could sell either some or all of its existing seven per cent stake in the takeover target.
Meanwhile the Tchenguiz consortium now owns 20.8 per cent of La Tasca having acquired an additional three per cent of the company's shares.
According to press reports, Mr Tchenguiz and the investors he is associated with hope to merge La Tasca with the property tycoon's Laurel Pub Company.
Commenting following the latest offer from his consortium yesterday, La Tasca said: "The board is considering its position and will make a further announcement in due course."
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