Archie Norman, the former chief of Asda, is weighing a bid of as much as £1.3 billion for Brakes, the UK’s biggest food distribution company.

Mr Norman, who as chief executive and then chairman of Asda oversaw the turn-around of the supermarket group in the Nineties, is looking to secure private equity backing for a bid. His evaluation is still at an early stage.

He is understood to be considering joining forces with one or more of a series of private equity groups, including Blackstone, Bain Capital, CVC and Cinven, which are themselves now examining bids for Brakes.

Mr Norman would bring substantial commercial and operational expertise to the table in any combined approach.

A move by Mr Norman would mark his entry into the bidding frenzy that has swept through the retail sector in recent months. Mr Norman’s protégés from his years at Asda include Justin King, chief executive of J Sainsbury, and Richard Baker, chief executive of Alliance Boots, who have been at the forefront of this activity.

Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R), the private equity owner of the food distributor, has hired JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank to sell the business, five years after it bought the company for £434 million. The banks are preparing to send detailed financial information to potential buyers this week.

The new developments in the emerging battle over Brakes comes as Wesfarmers, the Australian retailer, confirmed that it was in talks with Mr Norman on him taking a senior position at Coles Group should Wesfarmers succeed in a A$19.7 billion (£8.2 billion) bid for the Australian supermarkets group. Richard Goyder, Wesfarmers’ head, said that he envisaged Mr Norman having “a very senior advisory role”.

Mr Norman set up his own investment vehicle, Aurigo Management, last summer and has yet to clinch a deal. He is on the lookout for a fresh turn-around opportunity, having rescued Asda from near-bankruptcy and sold it to Wal-Mart for £6.7 billion. He also orchestrated a revival of Energis that gained him the lion’s share of a bonus pool of £30 million upon the telecom group’s sale to Cable & Wireless in 2005.

Previously, he was linked to bids for Esporta, the fitness club chain, and Phones4u, the mobile phones chain.

CD&R, a specialist in distribution businesses, took Brakes private in 2002 with the support of the founding family, in a £434 million deal.

Under CD&R’s ownership, Brakes has grabbed a 14 per cent market share, cementing its status as Britain’s largest food supplier to the catering industry.

Last week Brakes reported a 24 per cent rise in first-quarter underlying profits to £24.3 million, on an 8.2 per cent increase in sales to £419.4 million.

The company, which has grown organically and through acquisition, reported profits of £109 million for the year to the end of December, on sales of £1.67 billion.

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