Pizza Express is considering a surprise move to gatecrash a takeover of The Restaurant Group (TRG), the London-listed company which owns Wagamama.

Sky News has learnt that Pizza Express is at the preliminary stages of evaluating whether to make a rival offer for TRG, which this month agreed to be bought by Apollo Global Management for just over £500m.

City sources cautioned on Wednesday that there was no guarantee Pizza Express would proceed with a formal offer to TRG’s board, chaired by Ken Hanna.

One of the sources said there had only been initial contact between the two sides to date, and that the public disclosure of its interest could prompt it to walk away.

Other potential counterbidders are also said to be examining whether to make offers.

Pizza Express is controlled by a group of debt funds including Bain Capital Credit and Cyrus Capital Partners, which took ownership in 2020.

Prior to that, the UK’s biggest chain of pizza restaurants was owned by China’s Hony Capital.

Although it has not been rumoured as a potential counterbidder for TRG, which also owns the Brunning & Price pub chain, analysts believe there is logic in its interest.

One said on Wednesday that there would be substantial cost synergies generated by bringing the two chains under a single holding company.

Allan Leighton, Pizza Express’s chairman and one of Britain’s most prolific businessmen, previously chaired Wagamama and engineered its sale to TRG in 2018.

He then spent a brief period on TRG’s board.

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Under the terms of Apollo’s 65p-a-share offer, a rival bid would need to be at least 10% richer for irrevocable shareholder undertakings to lapse.

Oasis Management, an activist hedge fund which had pressed for boardroom and strategic changes at TRG for months, has said it will vote its near-18% in favour of the deal.

It was unclear at what price Pizza Express might be contemplating bidding, or how it would finance an offer.

On Wednesday, TRG shares closed at 66.5p, above the level of the Apollo bid, implying the market believes a counterbid is likely.

Last month, TRG announced the sale of Chiquito’s and Frankie and Benny’s, two of Britain’s best-known casual dining chains, to The Big Table, another restaurant operator.

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That deal saw The Big Table, which is backed by the buyout firm Epiris, adding the two brands to a portfolio which includes Amalfi, Banana Tree, Bella Italia, Cafe Rouge and Las Iguanas.

The announcement came just days after TRG announced that Mr Hanna would step down.

It is unclear whether Andy Hornby, TRG’s chief executive, would remain in place under Apollo’s ownership.

Pizza Express and TRG both declined to comment.

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