Blow for Tchenguiz as Somerfield left on shelf

In a further setback for property entrepreneur Robert Tchenguiz, the planned £2 billion sale of supermarkets chain Somerfield, which he part-owns, looks set to be dropped because of lack of interest.

There was reportedly just one bid - from the Co-op - for the company by the deadline last week. Tchenguiz has already been hit by losses on his stakes in Mitchells & Butlers and J Sainsbury, and is looking to liquidate his Laurel Pubs group to strip it of loss-making properties.

Supermarkets group Asda is understood not to have made a bid for Somerfield despite being responsible for putting the business in play by sounding out the owners over a deal last year.

Analysts suggest that the asking price is too high, given the global financial turmoil. Asda is also believed to want to cherry-pick Somerfield's sites, buying only the largest to take on arch-rival Tesco.

The Apax-led consortium that bought Somerfield for £1.1 billion in 2005 wants to sell the business as a whole.