The bid, which is mostly funded by Icelandic bank Kaupthing Bank, would offer each of Londis’s shareholders about £12,400 cash and shares nominally worth £18,600.

The offer is dependent on Londis’s board allowing access to the company’s financial data room and would allow Londis’s shareholders to retain a 60 per cent stake in the company.

Geoff Purdy, the buying and marketing director at T&S who is chief executive of Lancelot the takeover consortium, said the group planned to approach Londis shareholders directly after being rebuffed by the group’s non-executive directors and KPMG, their advisers.

Peter McNamara, chairman of Londis, said Lancelot had not yet approached the board but his initial rection was to stick with the recommended Musgrave offer. He said: “Musgrave is a very attractive offer and this is not just about price. It’s about support for the independent shopkeepers.”

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