City grandee Michael Spencer tables bid for Naked wine dealer Lay & Wheeler
City bigwig Michael Spencer is said to have tabled a bid for Lay & Wheeler (L&W), a fine wine merchant set to be sold by Naked Wines.
BI Wine & Spirits, which is chaired and part-owned by Spencer, is among interested buyers circling the luxury merchant, Sky News reported.
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The sale comes amid a radical digital transformation plan at Naked, which changed its name from Majestic after agreeing a deal to sell off its retail division to Fortress Investment Group for almost £100m.
Naked has earmarked L&W for sale as it looks to focus on its online subscription service.
Cavendish Corporate Finance are overseeing the auction, which could attract a final sale price of up to £10m, according to the report.
The deal would be the latest acquisition for Spencer’s wine business, which snapped up a 25 per cent stake in Westmorland Spirits, the owner of luxury gin brand Gilpin’s, in 2017.
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Naked is said to be weighing up a US float on the tech-heavy Nasdaq following its separation from Majestic.
A spokesperson for Spencer declined to comment to Sky News.
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