Price halts Hunter's bid for Flying Brands

SCOTLAND'S richest man has abandoned his plans to take over flowers and gardening mail order firm Flying Brands after failing to agree on a satisfactory price for the troubled firm.

Tycoon Sir Tom Hunter, who already holds a 29.9 per cent stake in the company through his West Coast Capital (WCC) investment vehicle, had been in discussions with Flying Brands since August.

But WCC yesterday told The Scotsman that it had been unable to reach an agreement with the Jersey-based company amid a dispute over price.

However, WCC added it did not rule out the possibility of making a fresh approach in the future.

A spokesman for WCC said that it would be "keeping a close eye" on Flying Brands' performance over the next few months, when Hunter is expected to become a more vocal shareholder in the flower and gardening mail order firm in a bid to turn it around.

Flying Brands, which trades as Gardening Direct and Flying Flowers, in October revealed it had experienced a 19 per cent drop in sales to £7.5 million over the three months to 26 September, saying it had been hit by poor weather and an increase in the price of grain.

In a statement yesterday it said: "Following West Coast Capital's announcement earlier today (Friday] that it has been unable to reach agreement with the board of Flying Brands on the terms of a recommended bid for the company, the board confirms that it is no longer in talks with West Coast Capital or any other party regarding an offer for the company."

Euan Hunter, a spokesman for Sir Tom Hunter, said: "We have been unable to agree a price and have therefore withdrawn from talks with Flying Brands. We will be keeping a close eye on Flying Brands' results over the next few months."

Under Takeover Panel regulations, WCC will not be allowed to make another approach to Flying Brands for six months.

Ownership of Flying Brands would have increased Hunter's share of the garden centre sector as he also owns Wyevale Garden Centres and Blooms of Bressingham.

Euan Hunter yesterday told The Scotsman that WCC was on the lookout for other opportunities in the sector.

He explained that a resurgence in home-grown produce amid the credit crunch had buoyed garden centres in recent months.

He added: "Garden centres generally are doing very well – people are spending more on grow-your-own as they look to become more self sufficient."

Last year Hunter, who made his fortune when he sold the Sports Division chain to JJB sports in 1998, went head-to-head with Tesco in a bid to block the supermarket giant from buying garden centre chain Dobbies, in which he had built up a 29 per cent stake.

But in May he agreed to accept an offer from the retailer of 1,200p a share – well below the 1,500p that had been on offer from Tesco a year earlier.

Hunter finally pocketed £36.3m from the sale of his 3.02 million shares, allowing Tesco to force minority shareholders to sell up and delist Lasswade-headquartered Dobbies from Aim.