Comet owner Kesa Electricals said today it was considering putting its French furniture business up for sale after a number of firms signalled an interest in bidding for the company.

Shares in Kesa jumped more than 6% as the group confirmed it was in “very early stage” evaluations after receiving a “number of indications of interest” to acquire the BUT chain.


But it added that there was no guarantee of a sale.

The confirmation came after French newspaper Les Echos reported that Kesa, which also owns the electricals retailer Darty in France, had appointed investment bank Lazard to examine buy-out proposals from private equity groups.

The proposals are understood to value the BUT chain in the range of €500m and €800m.