Spice announced the pair were in advanced talks on the offer, which would represent a premium of about 10.7% to its closing price yesterday (September 1).

Shareholders will also receive the final dividend of 1.22p per share on September 14.

The group said the offer remains subject to a number of pre-conditions, including the satisfactory completion of due diligence.

However, Cinven has confirmed that any offer would not be conditional on external financing.

Although the board believes Spice has a strong future as an independent business, it says it 'recognises that, due to the cash nature and premium of the potential offer, it is in shareholders' interests to facilitate further discussions with Cinven'.

Spice had rejected an earlier proposal from Cinven of 56p, subsequently raised to 62-65p.

It now plans to recommend the offer subject to final terms and conditions and will continue with talks until September 27.

Discussions with another potential bidder have been ended.

Story provided by StockMarketWire.com