Former Axis owner makes offer for Crown fitness arm

In the latest move surrounding bids for Crown Sports, a £42m bid has been made for the group's health and fitness arm.

A consortium headed by entrepreneur Steve Lewis - who founded the Axis Health & Fitness group and sold it to Crown in 2001 - has put in the bid for the 22 Dragons clubs and 24 Fitness Express clubs.

Lewis, who received shares as well as cash when Crown acquired the Axis chain, is said to have made the move after seeing the value of his shareholding fall.

He is thought to be backed by private equity firm, Rutland Fund Management.

If his bid is successful, he is expected to sell the poorer performing clubs and take the company private.

The offer timetable for Crown Sports was suspended at the end of November pending further discussions between Crown and its chair, Jeff Chapman, regarding his potentially making an increased offer for the whole group, up from 5p per share to 7p per share.