Asda in bid for Littlewoods

Asda has approached the Barclay brothers with an indicative offer of up to £500m for Littlewoods, the department store business. The group, owned by Wal-Mart, is understood to be one of a number of retailers to have made unsolicited bids for Littlewoods in recent months.

Having received the offers, Sir David and Sir Frederick Barclay, who own the Ritz hotel and The Daily Telegraph, have now initiated a formal sale process for the store chain. Retailers believed to have expressed an interest in some or all of the stores include New Look and Primark.