Duke Street alive to £200m Funeral Partners takeover

The erstwhile proprietor of Wagamama restaurants is successful elaborate talks to bargain Britain's third-biggest ceremonial services supplier successful a woody worthy adjacent to £200m.

Sky News has learnt that Duke Street is successful exclusive negotiations to get Funeral Partners from chap backstage equity steadfast Montagu Private Equity.

Sources said the talks were ongoing and could pb to an statement being formally reached successful the coming months.

Funeral Partners, which was founded successful 2007 by Philip Greenfield, oversees much than 20,000 ceremonial services annually.

It present trades from much than 280 branches crossed the UK, competing with the similar of the Co-op's Funeralcare arm.

If completed, it would correspond a instrumentality to the manufacture for Duke Street, which antecedently owned Laurel Funerals.

It sold that concern to Dignity and Funeral Partners, meaning it would efficaciously beryllium reacquiring a fig of assets it utilized to own.

News of the talks comes days aft it emerged that Pure Cremation had kicked disconnected talks with imaginable buyers astir a woody which could beryllium valued successful the portion of £700m.

HSBC is advising connected the merchantability of Funeral Partners.

Duke Street and Montagu some declined to comment.