Private equity firms circle TGI Friday's

Three private equity firms are reported to be considering a bid to buy American-themed restaurant chain TGI Friday's.

Charterhouse, Lion Capital and Electra are thought to have tabled second-round offers for the business, according to the Daily Telegraph.

TGI Friday's is owned by Sentinel Capital and TriArtisan Partners, who bought the company for $880m (£563m) earlier this year.

The restaurant brand has 900 sites around the world including around 60 in the UK. TGI Friday's opened in New York in 1965 and opened in the UK 20 years later, with its first site in Birmingham.

It was owned by Carlson for 40 years until its sale earlier this year, although Carlson only bought the UK arm six years ago. Previously the UK arm was owned by Whitbread which sold it to Carlson and private equity firm AAC in 2007 for £70.4m.