TDR Capital, owner of restaurant group PizzaExpress, has entered the bidding process for the Ask Central pizza and pasta chain.

The company announced today that it has made a proposal regarding a possible offer to Ask’s board.

This follows a period of speculation that TDR would enter the bidding process. Earlier this month, the group stated that it intended to ‘trump’ the £168m City Centre Restaurants offer for the Ask Central chain.

The TDR proposal is at 220 pence per Ask share in cash and indicates that a firm offer could be made in approximately two weeks.

However, Ask has said that, while it will judge any offer from TDR on its merits, until the February 10 deadline, it will continue to back the City Centre deal.

Executive chair of City Centre, Alan Jackson, said: “With regards to the merger of City Centre and Ask Central, the combination has clear commercial and financial logic, creating a restaurant group with critical mass and strong market positions under a management team that can exploit the combined group’s full potential.”