Vivian Imerman, a large investor in the Del Monte tinned fruit and vegetable business until four years ago, is making plans to buy the company. The company has been put up for sale by Cirio Finanziaria, the failed Italian food group.

Imerman's family owned 30 per cent of Royal Food when the South African company ñ in which Anglo American was an investor ñ bought Del Monte's packaged food business for £360 million in 1992.

Cirio bought control of Del Monte in 1998 and Imerman sold his stake for £380m. Cirio, which had revenues last year of euro 1 billion, went into bankruptcy administration this year after defaulting on euro 1.1bn in November 2002.