Black & Blue, the London-based steak restaurant chain, is believed to have received an approach from an experienced operator looking to return to the sector, which values the company at £11m.
It is thought that this latest approach for the seven-strong group from an unnamed suitor may have already been rebuffed by owners Alan Bacon and Nick Hill.
M&C Report understands that there have been a number of failed approaches for the company over the last few years.
The group currently operates five restaurants in the capital under the Black & blue format, plus the Archduke restaurant and wine bar on the South Bank and the recently acquired Picasso coffee bar and restaurant in Chelsea.
Bacon and Hill, who built up the Tootsies business before they sold it to Andrew Bonnell in 1999, opened the first Black & Blue 11 years ago in Kensington.
