Tycoon Sir Tom Hunter’s investment vehicle, West Coast Capital, has given an irrevocable undertaking to sell its 29.2 per cent holding.
A deal will end the stand-off between the grocer and Hunter, which has lasted since Tesco bought into Dobbies last summer.
Tesco will pay 1,200p a share, valuing Dobbies at£124.5 million.
Hunter – who owns Dobbies’ rival Wyevale, the garden centre market leader – has previously fought to stop Tesco controlling Dobbies and last week unsuccessfully attempted to get court backing to scupper a rights issue by the retailer.
His decision to sell will allow Tesco to drive forward its plans to turn Dobbies into a chain that is focused on eco-conscious shoppers.
Separately, at Dobbies’ AGM this morning, chairman Lucy Neville-Rolfe reported that total sales for the six months to the end of April were up 4.5 per cent and like-for-likes fell 6.8 per cent. Since the end of the half-year, sales in the three weeks to May 18 increased 15.8 per cent on a like-for-like basis and 30.2 per cent in total.
Dobbies has opened and acquired four stores in the past thirteen months and announced the acquisition of Sandyholm Garden Centre in Scotland last month (RW Online, April 4).
Neville-Rolfe said: “When combined with other potential sites already announced, this represents another step towards fulfilling our strategy of building our UK business around destination garden centres.”
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