Tesco receives Dobbies bid from Terra Firma, reports say

Tesco has reportedly received a £175m approach for its Dobbies Garden Centres division from rival Wayvale, which is owned by private equity house Terra Firma.

Terra Firma, which is run by Guy Hands, made the offer in recent days with the assistance of Goldman Sachs, Sky News reported on Tuesday.

Tesco was last week reported to be preparing plans to sell the loss-making garden centres business, with chief executive Dave Lewis appointing advisers Greenhill to assist with a sale.

Dobbies, which recorded a total loss of £48m in 2015 from a write-down of some of its 35 garden centres, was purchased by previous Tesco chief Terry Leahy in 2008.

Tesco has set a deadline of this Wednesday for initial offers.

In an effort to pay down debt, of which £4.5bn is coming due by 2020, and revitalise its UK business, Tesco last year sold its South Korean business for £4.2bn and recently sold down its share in South East Asia ecommerce marketplace Lazada for $129m.