Debenhams threat to £70m Beatties deal

DEBENHAMS is considering gatecrashing the agreed £70m million takeover bid by House of Fraser for Beatties, one of Britain's oldest department store groups.

HoF chief executive John Coleman announced his agreed move for Beatties early last week as part of an ambitious expansion plan. He paid £46 million for Edinburgh store Jenners in March.

However, Debenhams, which was taken off the stock market in a £600 million private equity-backed deal nearly two years ago, is now considering a counter-bid for the 12 Beatties stores.

Debenhams, led by Rob Templeman, refused to comment, but a source close to the group confirmed it was 'seriously looking into it'.

City analysts had predicted that John Lewis might also be interested in Beatties, whose stores are mainly in the Midlands, raising the possibility of a three-way tussle. However, a wellplaced John Lewis source said it was not considering an approach.

Beatties was founded by James Beattie in 1877 when he opened a shop in Wolverhampton with £300. Like many other regional department stores, it has struggled to compete against larger groups in recent years.

Analysts estimate there would be £5 million of savings for HoF and Coleman has already outlined plans that would retain the Beatties name but modernise its supply systems.

HoF bosses had expected to complete the deal by late August.