Shares in convenience store group Alldays were suspended today amid speculation the retailer was on the brink of being bought.
The struggling group said it had requested the move pending a further announcement that would be made as soon as practicable.
Alldays revealed last month it was in talks to sell the business and return cash to long-suffering shareholders.
The mutually-owned Co-operative Group is seen as the clear front-runner for the group, which runs 637 stores nationwide.
Reports earlier this month suggested the Co-op was preparing a bid of around £150 million to £200 million.
Any deal would have to be made with Alldays' financiers Royal Bank of Scotland because of its debts of some £195 million.
Any deal would come after previous attempts to find a buyer failed.
Alldays' shares have nose-dived from over 600p in June 1998 to today's 5p after a failed restructuring of the business.
Profits dived as a plan to divide the group into regional franchises backfired and Alldays had to borrow £200 million to buy back the stores.
The group admitted in June there was no disguising the need for a financial restructuring.
It said last month talks may or may not lead to a firm proposal but shareholders were likely to receive only 5p per share.
Neither Alldays or the Co-op would comment on speculation a deal had been signed.
The Co-op has been quietly buying up smaller retailers such as JT Smith in the Midlands after embarking on a new strategy two years ago.
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