Report: Mantle Ridge May Be Looking To Buy Aramark

Investment firm Mantle Ridge LP is exploring forming a consortium with private equity firms and sovereign wealth funds to make an offer for U.S. food services company Aramark (NYSE: ARMK), according to Reuters.

Aramark has a market value of about $8 billion and a debt pile of more than $7 billion. If this offer goes ahead, it would be one of the largest leveraged buyouts since the financial crisis.

According to the report, Mantle Ridge has also held preliminary talks with banks about raising debt financing for the bid. There is no certainty the bid will materialize.

Aramark shares were trading higher by 4.5 percent at $34.24 at time of publication.