Tesco has had to drastically scale back ambitions for the sale of Dunnhumby, the data analysis company, as bidders were discouraged by lower than expected earnings and difficulties financing a deal. Dunnhumby was put up for sale this year, with a price of up to £2bn.
Two people familiar with the auction said bidders were now contemplating offers of about £700m or less, after discovering that the business was less profitable than
Failure to secure a good price for Dunnhumby would be a setback to Tesco’s efforts to bolster its balance sheet. Tesco has said it is over-indebted and looking to use the proceeds from asset sales to improve its financial position.
If it fails to raise enough from sales, some analysts believe it will have to raise new capital potentially via a multibillion pound rights issue.
Dave Lewis, who took over as chief executive a year ago, has said that he will first look to sell assets before turning to investors.
The remaining bidders for Dunnhumby include advertising group WPP, which has teamed up with private equity firm General Atlantic. Other buyout groups still in the auction include CVC, TPG and New Mountain Capital, which owns rival data analysis business IRI.
Tesco is also awaiting final bids for its business in South Korea, which could fetch about £4bn.
Once Britain’s most powerful retailer, Tesco was plunged into the biggest crisis of its near 100-year history, after the discovery of a £250m profit shortfall.
The Dunnhumby auction has been hit by issues such as having to renegotiate its agreement with Kroger, a US supermarket chain, for which Dunnhumby also works.
One person with knowledge of the renegotiation said this had cut Dunnhumby’s earnings from about £110m to about £60m.
Some people familiar with the situation said that even this figure could prove optimistic. Without demonstrable earnings, the acquisition would be difficult to finance for bidders.
Goldman Sachs, which was appointed to advise Tesco on the asset sale, is not offering a financing package, according to two people familiar with the situation.
Tesco and Goldman declined to comment.
When Tesco announced its full-year results in April, revealing a £6.4bn pre-tax loss after £7bn of writedowns and charges, it said it had about £22bn of debt and debt equivalents, such as leases, compared with less than £1bn of trading profit.
The next few weeks will be important in determining how much Tesco generates from the auctions, with final bids for the Korean business due on August 24, and those for Dunnhumby a few weeks later.