Buyers line up for Brake Bros

The battle for Brake Brothers is hotting up as buyers line up for the UK food service company that put itself up for sale last month.

Earlier this week South African services group Bidvest approached the OFT seeking consent to make an offer for the £400m firm.

Now Ahold, the Dutch supermarket company, and Sysco, the North American foodservice group, have emerged as potential suitors. Both are thought to be preparing bids for Britain's biggest frozen food wholesaler .

It is understood that Bidvest would want to merge Brake's with its own British food supply operation 3663 First for Foodservice, formerly known as Booker Foodservice Group.

Bidvest paid £122m for the business from Booker, now a part of the Big Food Group, in 1999. The Big Food Group was formerly known as Iceland.

Ahold, which has annual sales of £41bn, declined to comment but financial buyers within the company are believed to have expressed an interest.

Sysco, the largest foodservice marketing and distribution group in North America, does not currently operate beyond the US, Alaska, Hawaii and Canada.

A clutch of private equity firms are also thought to be interested.

Frank Brake, the chairman and co-founder of Brake Brothers, revealed the family-controlled firm up was up for sale, as the company announced full-year results last week.

A sale could net the family £200m.

The business, formed by brothers Frank, William and Peter, started supplying fresh poultry to the trade in 1958.

The business began to distribute frozen foods in 1963 and was floated on the stock market in 1986.

Brake Bros, which has 300,000 customers in Britain and France, is being advised by Credit Suisse First Boston.