South African buyout group Bidvest is thought to be preparing a £500m bid for Brake Brothers, one of the largest food suppliers to pubs and restaurants in the UK.
It is understood that Bidvest would want to merge Brake's with its own British food supply operation 3663 First for Foodservice, formerly known as Booker Foodservice Group.
Bidvest paid £122m for the business from Booker, now a part of the Big Food Group, in 1999. The Big Food Group was formerly known as Iceland.
Compass, the world's largest catering company, and Ahold, the Dutch supermarket group, are also expected to make a play for Brake's.
There is also a clutch of private equity firms thought to be interested.
Frank Brake, the chairman and co-founder of Brake Brothers, revealed the family-controlled firm up was up for sale, as the company announced full-year results last week. A sale could net the family £200m.
The business, formed by brothers Frank, William and Peter, started supplying fresh poultry to the trade in 1958. The business began to distribute frozen foods in 1963 and was floated on the stock market in 1986.
It is thought that Bidvest would be able to make big savings by putting the Brake's and First for Foodservice businesses together, and therefore might be able to justify a higher price than bid rivals.
Brake Bros, which has 300,000 customers in Britain and France, is being advised by Credit Suisse First Boston.
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Brake Brothers up for sale (12 March 2002)