Osmond pulls out of PizzaExpress bid

Talks between PizzaExpress and the venture capital group headed by Hugh Osmond have collapsed before they could even get to the stage of a formal bid.

According to PizzaExpress, the major sticking point in the talks, which continued over two weeks, was over a payment demanded by the Osmond's consortium, Twigway. The payment would have covered legal costs should a deal between the two collapse, once a formal bid had been made.

"The cost would have gone to shareholders and it was felt that this would have been an unfair burden," said a spokeswoman from PizzaExpress.

However, it is understood that Twigway was frustrated that PizzaExpress would not disclose very recent trading figures. One industry source said: "It is unlikely that these two will get together again around the table."

The approach made by Twigway valued PizzaExpress at 330p per share, a total of £250m, a price that PizzaExpress considers good value in the current market.

The spokeswoman added that several venture capitalists had shown interest over the last two weeks but there were "no other offers on the table at the moment."