Tesco has extended the deadline for Dobbies to accept its offer for the firm until August 19.
The supermarket leader had previously set a deadline of August 8 for acceptance of its £155.6m bid for the garden centre chain, but later extended this. As of that date Tesco held approximately 33 percent of the shares in Dobbies.
Meanwhile Dobbies’ chief executive James Barnes has launched an attack on Wyevale owner Sir Tom Hunter, whose name has long been connected with a bid for the company.
Barnes has been quoted as saying that Hunter is seeking to scupper Tesco’s bid ‘for his own commercial ends rather than for the benefit of our shareholders.’
Barnes also raised the question of whether there is a conflict of interest between Hunter’s status as a significant Dobbies shareholder and his role as a key competitor, pointing out that he could potentially block any future fundraising in order to limit Dobbies’ expansion.
But a spokesperson representing Hunter retorted that it was nonsense to suggest he would do anything to prevent the business from
growing.
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