One of Britain’s biggest tenpin bowling venue operators will this week disclose that it has become the latest London-listed companies to recommend a private equity-backed takeover.
Sky News has learnt that Ten Entertainment, which trades from about 50 venues across the UK, is to recommend an offer from Trive Capital, a US-based buyout firm.
A banking source said the deal was expected to be announced as early as Wednesday morning.
The deal is expected to be worth in the region of £300m.
If confirmed, it will come in the wake of a string of other takeover bids for London-listed companies, such as Mars’ recently recommended offer for the retailer Hotel Chocolat.
Trive’s bid for Ten Entertainment will come six years after the tenpin bowling group floated at 165p-a-share.
On Tuesday, the stock closed at 310p, meaning that with a conventional takeover premium included in the offer, investors at the time of the listing would have more than doubled their money.
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Ten Entertainment competes with rivals such as Hollywood Bowl, and is run by a Graham
Blackwell, a leisure industry veteran.
Its shares have risen by more than a quarter over the last 12 months amid growing post-pandemic demand for in-person leisure experiences.
A spokesman for Ten Entertainment declined to comment.
