DunnHumby suitors tap up Keith Mills

Former Nectar loyalty scheme chief Sir Keith Mills has reportedly been approached by a number of private equity companies to spearhead a bid for DunnHumby, estimated to be worth up to £2bn.
According to Sky News, Sir Keith – who also led AirMiles (now Avios) as well as the successful 2012 London Olympics bid – has been decribed by one bidder as “the perfect candidate to lead a bid”, although he has yet to agree to get involved.
The move follows speculation that US-based buyout firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice – which is advised by former Tesco chief Sir Terry Leahy, the man who launched the Clubcard scheme – is also eyeing up the business.
Other potential suitors include WPP, Advent International, General Atlantic Partners and KKR.
New Tesco boss Dave Lewis kick-started the clear-out of assets earlier this month by flogging its Blinkbox Movies and Tesco Broadband services to TalkTalk for a reported £25m.
He confirmed the appointment of Goldman Sachs to “explore strategic options” for DunnHumby; a move which had been predicted for months.
Meanwhile, the supermarket giant has offloaded its music streaming service Blinkbox Music to Australian firm Guvera for an undisclosed sum.
Guvera, which largely operates across Asia, said Blinkbox Music would help it with European expansion plans. The digital music service claims 2.5 million registered app users and 100 million streams a month.