Wyevale Garden Centres owner Terra Firma has reportedly tabled a bid of £175m for Tesco’s garden centre business Dobbies, according to reports.

If successful, the sale would make Wyevale the UK’s largest garden centre operator, growing its number of sites to 175.

The deadline for initial offers for loss-making Dobbies, which has 35 stores, is tomorrow, Sky News reported. 

Terra Firma Capital, owned by private equity tycoon Guy Hands, is just one of several private equity firms said to be preparing bids ahead of the deadline, according to the report.

Wyevale appointed former Toys R Us UK boss Roger Mclaughlan as its new chief executive last month.

Tesco is reportedly preparing to sell Dobbies and its Harris + Hoole coffee shop chain in a bid to dispose of non-core assets as boss Dave Lewis continues to focus on improving the fortunes of its core UK supermarket estate.

Wyevale and Tesco declined to comment.