LONDON (Reuters) - British advertising group WPP (L:WPP) has bid for a majority stake in Dunnhumby, the customer data business put up for sale by Tesco (L:TSCO), a person familiar with the situation said on Monday.
Dunnhumby, which gathers and analyses data from almost 1 billion shoppers globally to help companies create customer loyalty and personalisation programmes, has been put up for sale as part of a drive by Tesco's new boss Dave Lewis to slash costs and sell assets to mend the group's finances.
Tesco, Britain's biggest retailer, is pursuing the sale of a majority stake, rather than an outright exit or flotation, a separate source told Reuters in February.
That source had said around six or seven parties, including private equity-led bidding groups, had shown a serious interest in the business.
WPP, which has increased its presence in market research and analytics in recent years, declined to comment.
Tesco, which saw its shares rise 4 percent in afternoon trading, also declined to comment.
Lewis is plotting the supermarket's fightback from years of market share losses, an accounting scandal and debt-ratings downgrades.
As part of that plan, Goldman Sachs (N:GS) was appointed to explore strategic options for Dunnhumby, which analysts value at up to 2 billion pounds ($3 billion).
Analysts said U.S. food retailer Kroger (N:KR) was also a possible suitor for Dunnhumby.