Sir Tom Hunter dealt a fatal blow to Tesco’s hopes of buying Dobbies Garden Centres yesterday, after the entrepreneur spent nearly £10 million in three successive share raids to take a blocking stake in the Scottish chain.

Scotland’s richest man, who has been at the forefront of consolidation in the sector, has upped his stake in Dobbies to 25.6 per cent from 20.6 per cent last week, scuppering Tesco’s chances of getting the 75 per cent of acceptances it requires to push a deal through.

It comes less than two weeks after the supermarkets group announced it had agreed to buy the Edinburgh-based chain for £15 a share, valuing the group at £155.6 million.

Shares in Dobbies climbed nearly 3 per cent, or 47p, on the news to close at 1830p.

West Coast Capital (WCC), Sir Tom’s private equity vehicle, said last night that it had paid £18.45 for 315,783 shares in Dobbies, just hours after it announced the acquisition of 102,500 shares at the same price. It comes on top of the previous day’s disclosure that WCC has snapped up 81,339 shares for £18 apiece.

Tesco refused to comment last night; however, industry observers suggested it was unlikely that the supermarkets giant would increase its offer for Dobbies.

A spokesman for Sir Tom, who already owns the Wyevale Garden Centres and Blooms of Bressingham chains, yesterday said that the entrepreneur was still “considering his options”.

Analysts have previously said that these options include blocking the bid, tendering the stake or launching a counter-bid for 142-year old chain.

The entrepreneur’s move to lift his stake to above the key threshold of 25 per cent will make it difficult for Tesco to gain full control over Dobbies even though the supermarket chain has shares and irrevocable commitments equivalent to about 30 per cent of the equity.

Industry observers said it appeared that Sir Tom was not prepared to give up his claim on Dobbies, and that he viewed it as the last bastion of consolidation in the market.

Sir Tom signalled his intention to remain a key player in the market last week when he snapped up a 10 per cent stake in Dobbies for £17.50 a share, doubling his stake in the company.

Richard Ratner, an analyst at Seymour Pierce, said in a note that Sir Tom was now in a position to block Tesco’s offer, “irrespective of what it may increase it to”.

“This he may well do,” suggested Mr Ratner.

At the time of the announcement of its acquisition, Tesco said that Dobbies would give it a greater presence in non-food, and allow it to expand its range of “green” and eco-friendly products.

Andrew Higginson, Tesco's finance director, earlier this week shrugged off suggestions that the UK's largest supermarket group had been wrong-footed by Sir Tom's stake-building.

He noted that Tesco's offer was the only formal deal on the table and said the retailer would be sending out an offer document to shareholders over the next few days.

Shares in Tesco closed down 1.5 per cent or 6p to 428p.

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