The EG Group have launched a takeover bid for Caffe Nero according to reports.

Billionaire brothers Mohsin and Zuber Issa wrote to Caffe Nero over the weekend to propose buying the chain from its founder and controlling shareholder, Gerry Ford says Sky News.

The report says, ‘under the EG proposal, ‘Caffe Nero's landlords would be paid in full for the rent arrears owed to them as a result of the COVID-19 crisis’.

It was unclear whether Caffe Nero had responded to the EG offer yet, or what the precise terms of the offer were.

Two weeks ago it was announced Caffe Nero was on the brink of insolvency with the company blaming the second lockdown. It is third largest coffee chain in the UK and was placed into a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA). 

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EG's bid could force the coffee shop chain to postpone the CVA vote, Sky News reports.

In September, the brothers and their private equity backers, TDR Capital, secured an agreement with Walmart to buy Asda.

READ > Blackburn's billionaire Issa brothers complete £6.8bn takeover of Asda

Caffe Nero employs more than 5,000 people and serves 135m customers annually.

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