In This Issue
Wyevale Garden Centres rumoured to have made £175m bid for Dobbies ahead of tomorrow's deadline
Who will buy Dobbies from Tesco? Newshound checks out runners and riders
Blue Diamond get set to buy Harlow Garden Centre
Scope for stockists to increase sales via up-selling with Meadow View Stones NEW POS
GIMA announces new Council at AGM
Happiness is just a few weeks of warmer weather away
Revealed: The Top 20 Bestselling Plants of the Week
Buyers flock to Groen-Direkt’s Spring Days
Woodborough and Honiton are ‘Pimp up’ winners
Town & Country go national with kids' glove design contest
Chichester College garden wins top award
How to win space on garden centre shelves
Soft Landscaping Contracts Manager
Junior Buyer: Garden Care
Garden Centre Assistant Manager (Hampshire)
Grounds Maintenance / Contracts Manager (North & Midlands)
Garden Centre Assistant Manager (East Sussex)
Get your own copy of GTN Xtra
Blue Diamond’s Stuart Whalley is promoted to Head of Product Development
Eureka! Solar Light Bulb is a bestseller
Cucumbers, beans and courgettes lead the way
Multipurpose compost keeps sales on a high
Wildlife World returns to major US exhibition
Flopro launches huge consumer media campaign
HTA National Plant Show – supporting Home Grown Plants
Inside the April issue of Garden Trade News
Bestsellers Top 50 charts every week
Buy your subscription to GTN Bestsellers
All the latest news from the world of garden centre catering
Squire's Long Ditton centre gets a makeover
Matthew Algie launches Espresso Warehouse catalogue
Award-winning ice cream producer's new-look packaging
Situations Vacant
Soft Landscaping Contracts Manager
Salary: Circa £30,000
Read more»
Junior Buyer: Garden Care
Competitive salary
 
Read more»
Garden Centre Assistant Manager (Hampshire)
Salary: £30,000 - £31,000
Read more»
Grounds Maintenance / Contracts Manager (North & Midlands)
Salary: £35,000 - £40,000
Read more»
Garden Centre Assistant Manager (East Sussex)
Salary: £18,000 - £21,000
Read more»
Send us your news and great ideas
Contact us with your news. 

Email neil.pope@tgcmc.co.uk, or trevor.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk or call the GTN News team on 01733 775700
Wyevale Garden Centres rumoured to have made £175m bid for Dobbies ahead of tomorrow's deadline


Wyevale Garden Centres are plotting a £175m takeover of Dobbies Garden Centres and have appointed Wall Street bank Goldman Sachs to assist in the bid, according to Sky News reports.

Sky News claims Wyevale owners Terra Firma have tabled a bid for Dobbies, which has been put up for sale by Tesco.

Tesco has set a deadline of tomorrow (Wednesday) for initial offers for Dobbies, which made a loss of nearly £50m last year

Many of Dobbies' outlets are attached to Tesco stores, but the gardening chain has been put up for sale by the supermarket's boss as part of a clearout of non-core assets.

A successful bid by Wyevale for Dobbies could attract scrutiny from competition regulators and prompt the disposal of a number of stores, says Sky News. It could also raise questions about the future of the company's Midlothian head office.

Several private equity firms are also said to be preparing bids ahead of Wednesday's deadline.

Wyevale's bid follows a number of previous attempts by Terra Firma boss Guy Hands to buy Dobbies in recent years.

Justin King, the former Sainsbury's boss who now runs Terra Firma's portfolio, recently recruited Roger McLaughlan, a former Asda and Toys 'R' Us' executive, to run Wyevale Garden Centres.

His appointment put an end to speculation that Terra Firma was preparing for an imminent auction of Wyevale, which reports have suggested could command a £700m price tag.

Terra Firma, which also owns Odeon and UCI Cinemas and the care home chain Four Seasons Health Care, declined to comment today.
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Del.icio.us Digg
Email Software by Newsweaver