Permira Eyes Furniture Retailer DFS

LONDON (Reuters) – British buyout firm Permira has teamed up with retail executive John Lovering to launch a bid for furniture retailer DFS, the Sunday Times reported without citing sources.

Permira and Lovering have appointed bankers at Nomura to advise on an offer for DFS, which is valued at more than 500 million pounds ($813.4 million), the paper said.

Permira declined to comment, and Lovering could not be reached.

The Sunday Times said Permira was likely to face competition from rival buyout firms Cinven and Advent International, amid growing private equity interest in retail assets, seen as likely to benefit first from any improvement in the economy.

(Reporting by Myles Neligan; Editing by David Cowell)