Sale of Little Chef and Travelodge gets closer

The bidding process for Compass Group's Travelodge and Little Chef businesses appears to have been narrowed down to one company.

It is understood that Compass is in exclusive talks with venture capitalist Permira, formerly called Schroder Ventures, for the sale, which could reach £800m, despite original City estimates of £600-£700m.

Permira has fought off rival bidders, understood to include Apax Partners, Cinven, Sun Capital and Starwood Capital. The venture capital firm is believed to be working on arranging funding, but it refused to give details.

"Nobody will comment on this deal," said a spokeswoman for Permira.

A spokesman for Compass, which put the businesses up for sale in May, said that no official announcement would be made until December.