The Restaurant Group PLC (LSE:RTN) (TRG) on Thursday confirmed the existence of a potential competing bid for the business as it said it had received a request for due diligence from the owner of Pizza Express.
If the interest is firmed up, it could signal a bidding war for the owner of the Wagamama noodle bar chain, which has agreed to be bought by Apollo Global Management (NYSE:APO) in a deal valued just north of £500 million.
The Pizza Express approach was made by an entity called Wheel Topco, although the business itself is effectively under the ownership of debt funds such as Bain Capital Credit and Cyrus Capital Partners.
Formal terms have yet to be tabled, and as TRG noted: "There can be no certainty that an offer by Wheel Topco will be made for the company, nor as to the terms on which an offer might be made.
"Accordingly, shareholders are advised to take no action at this time with regard to the information request received from Wheel Topco."
While Pizza Express is the most recent entity to express interest, other potential counterbidders are also said to be evaluating their options.
Analysts reckon that there is commercial logic behind Pizza Express's interest in TRG, which also owns the Brunning & Price pub chain.
They suggest that substantial cost synergies could be realised by consolidating the two restaurant chains under a single holding company.
It is also worth noting that Allan Leighton, the chairman of Pizza Express and a prominent British businessman, has a history with Wagamama. He previously chaired the Asian-inspired restaurant chain and was instrumental in its sale to TRG in 2018.