SCOTLAND’s richest man, Sir Tom Hunter, is set to raise the stakes in the battle of the garden centres by launching a £50m acquisition spree to expand Wyevale, the chain he bought last year.

Hunter has agreed a deal to buy Sanders Garden World, based in Highbridge, Somerset, for between £10m and £20m and is negotiating a number of other bolt-on purchases.

The Scottish tycoon, who made his first fortune from sports shops, has recently locked horns with Tesco over control of the rival garden-centre group Dobbies.

The supermarket launched a recommended £156m takeover bid for Dobbies, in which Hunter has built up a 29% stake. Tesco has secured a majority share in the business but is unable to take it off the stock market because of the size of Hunter’s holding.

Hunter, who also owns the Blooms of Bressinghams garden-centre chain, has recently written to other Dobbies shareholders to tell them he thinks that Tesco’s bid undervalues their business.

He has also accused the Dobbies board of “rolling over” for the supermarket giant for too low a price.

But his attention is now firmly back on Wyevale. As well as Sanders, Hunter is in talks over two further deals that could be announced this month.

Investors in Wyevale, including Hunter’s vehicle West Coast Capital, Icelandic retail investor Baugur and HBOS, the bank, are supporting up to £50m of acquisitions.

The purchases are expected to add £25m to group sales as well as provide a significant bank of land that can be used for future development.

One insider said the deals would “reinforce” West Coast’s position as Britain’s leading player in garden centres. It moved into the sector in April 2006 when it led a £300m public-to-private buyout of Wyevale. It had first become a public company in 1986.

Harry Williamson opened the original Wyevale centre in Hereford in 1962. Today the chain operates more than 100 sites around Britain.

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