The long expected takeover of Regent Inns could become reality after it confirmed that several approaches had been made for the business.

Shares in Regent Inns, which owns the Old Orleans restaurant chain and Jongleurs comedy clubs, jumped by 50% to 24.75p on Tuesday morning after announcing that it is in potential bid talks.

In a statement, the company said: '(Regent has) received a number of preliminary approaches in respect of potential offers for the Company and is in very early stage discussions with some of these potential offerors.'

A takeover has long been mooted by analysts in light of ongoing trading difficulties. Indeed, the situation remains weak with Regent Inns today saying that market conditions have got worse since it updated investors on 3 December.

Its most recent financial results saw a 2.8% drop in like-for-like sales for the year to 30 June.

In the nine months preceding today's potential bid talks, Regent Inns' share price had fallen 87%.

Sentiment has been knocked by a profit warning, failed acquisitions, higher costs and a slowdown in consumer spending.

This will be music to the ears of turnaround experts looking for a challenge highly. As the business is highly cash generative, you can expect private equity groups to be among those seeking talks with the management over a takeover.