Ottakar's eyed by management

Ottakar's has confirmed that it has entered into discussions with another company in relation to a possible offer. The company is formed by a group of investors and a number of Ottakar's directors, including Philip Dunne, James Heneage and Michael Hitchcock. The board has formed a committee of independent directors, including John Thornton, David Adams and Mark Fane to act for it in these discussions.

In the 14 weeks to May 7, Ottakar's total sales increased by 4.7 per cent compared with the same period last year. Like-for-like sales fell 0.5 per cent in the period.

However, the bookseller said it failed to capitalise on the fervour surrounding the launch of the latest Harry Potter book. Like-for-like sales for the four weeks to the launch date, July 16, were down 6.7 per cent. The poor result was blamed partly on severe price competition over the Potter book with big supermarkets such as Tesco and Asda.

At 11.00am today, Ottakar's share price had jumped 16 per cent to 326 pence. To view an up-to-date profile of Ottakars, click on the City button on the left hand side of the site.