The backing comes despite the fact the Londis board has already recommended a £60 million offer by Musgrave.

Adrian Costain, deputy chairman of the Londis Shareholder Action Group (LSAG), said: “We could go hostile with BFG - it scores more highly than Musgrave under our criteria… Although a hostile bid could be very damaging to Londis and the independent convenience sector, the prospect cannot be entirely discounted. But we would rather just vote down the Musgrave proposal and then move the business in the direction we wanted to go.”

The latest move would be in response to what some Londis shareholders see as the cavalier attitude displayed over the past six months by the company’s board, whom the shareholders accuse of trying to force a sale upon them.

The shareholders group said it was staggered to learn at a meeting with BFG that the owner of Iceland and Booker cash-and-carry had previously proposed two possible scenarios to the Londis board.

Besides an outright bid, BFG also suggested taking a minority stake and keeping the group’s mutual status - an outcome preferred by many Londis shareholders.

LSAG has been highly critical of the board’s handling of the process and its level of disclosure and has continued to push for further information. Costain said: “The board has consistently failed to disclose key facts such as who the other bidders or even who the highest bidder was. I think it is guilty of making facts fit its desired conclusion.”

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