The boss of Tesco investor Artisan Partners has claimed he has not spoken to a single investor who backs the grocer’s proposed tie-up with wholesaler Booker.

Daniel O’Keefe told The Telegraph that there is widespread antipathy to the merger.

“I have spoken to shareholders and I would say I haven’t spoken to anybody that likes the deal,” he maintained.

Artisan, alongside another Tesco investor, Schroders, had previously gone public about its worries over the Tesco-Booker deal.