City Centre puts itself on the menu

City centre Restaurants - whose eateries include Caffe Uno, Garfunkel's, Est Est Est and Wok Wok - is understood to have put itself up for sale

City centre Restaurants - whose eateries include Caffe Uno, Garfunkel's, Est Est Est and Wok Wok - is understood to have put itself up for sale

Venture capitalists have been provided with financial details of the company in a move designed to find a buyer to take it private. Among the private equity groups likely to be interested are Candover, which came close to launching a bid last year, and Botts & Co, which appears to have given up on its plan to acquire the pub group Wolverhampton & Dudley.

City Centre is eager to find a white knight bidder to see off Pizza Express, whose friendly advances so far have been rejected. Pizza Express's interest has concentrated the mind of Andrew Guy, City Centre's new chief executive, who is conducting a strategic review of the business. The results, expected in the next two weeks, are likely to include a belated disposal of its 57 Deep Pan Pizza outlets. An earlier attempt to sell to leisure group Queensborough Holdings collapsed last year. One avenue for Mr Guy would be to find a private buyer to take on its low-growth brands, Garfunkel's and Deep Pan.

Mr Guy replaced James Naylor, City Centre's chief executive for the last seven years, who stepped down last month.

A change of ownership at City Centre, advised by merchant bank Lazards, is predicted to be the first of many deals among quoted restaurateurs. Investors have shown little interest in the sector. City Centre shares closed on Friday at 56p, barely a third of its 1998 high of 1621/2p. But venture capitalists value the steady cash flow of such companies.

Pizza Express's original 65p bid was rejected by management, but it may be considering a hostile 75p bid. Whitbread may also be interested.