M&A

Ex-Harveys boss latest name in frame to bid for DFS

5th February 2010

The former leader of furniture store group Harveys, Rob Templeman, has been named as a potential bidder for upholstery retail giant DFS.

Templeman, now chief executive of Debenhams, is reported to be considering mounting a bid backed by private equity group Cinven. He follows his own chairman at Debenhams, John Lovering, in being linked with a move for the Lord Kirkham owned sofa chain.

Lovering is thought to be looking to partner another private equity firm, Permira, with a view to bidding about £500m for DFS.

Lord Kirkham is said to have hired Goldman Sachs to look at strategic options for the 78-store group, including a possible IPO or sale. However, he has also been reported as saying he wouldn't consider leaving the company he built from scratch until it was doing £1bn in sales annually. Its current turnover is less than £600m.

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