Epiris and Newlat to duke it out in fight for Princes

British private equity firm Epiris and Italian food manufacturer Newlat were said to be the two remaining bidders in the sale of tinned produce business Princes, which has been up for sale for months.

However, Sky News said on Friday that it was not clear if a deal would be reached or whether either of the two bidders were willing to front up the reported £400.0m asking price.

The attempted sale of Princes, which has been owned by Mitsubishi since 1989, follows a process conducted earlier in the year, which failed to draw interest at a sufficiently attractive price.

Investment bank Houlihan Lokey will be running the auction.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com