US buyout firm enters race for £2bn Tesco arm
ANOTHER company has joined the clamour for a slice of Tesco’s data business which was behind the supermarket’s hugely successful Clubcard loyalty scheme.
Hellman & Friedman, the US private equity firm, is the latest bidder said to be interested in Dunnhumby, joining a crowded line-up of potential buyers willing to splash out as much as £2bn.
Dunnhumby was put up for sale by Dave Lewis following Tesco’s disastrous profit blackhole in a bid to reduce its debts amid the worst annual loss in its 96-year history.
The customer data firm which Tesco first invested in and then took over fully, is one of its most lucrative assets with the boom in big data, and has sparked major interest from ad group WPP, consumer measurement company Nielsen and a handful of private equity firms.
A significant hurdle to any deal was overcome after Tesco ended an exclusive partnership with US retailer Kroger which would have hampered any expansion of the company in potentially one of its largest markets.
Silver Lake, Dubilier & Rice, TPG, Warburg Pincus, Carlyle Group, Permira and CVC have all been in the frame as potential Dunnhumby bidders.
Tesco brought in Goldman Sachs at the start of the year to explore sale options for Dunnhumby, including a full or partial sale.
Hellman & Friedman’s interest was first reported by the Sunday Times.