TLLC Group Holdings, part of the Permira Group which also owns the Travelodge hotel chain, has confirmed it is in talks to sell roadside restaurant chain Little Chef.

Permira said negotiations with Lawrence Wosskow and Simon Heath, founders of the Out of Town Restaurants Group (OOTG), were at an advanced state but declined to comment on the value of a possible sale.

Analysts believe however, that the group has received a bid of around £50m for the 233 Little Chef sites, which have struggled to compete against the increasing popularity of convenience food outlets and the expansion of garage forecourts.

The Little Chef estate has been up for sale since November 2004, when TLLC decided to cut its losses and concentrate on the Travelodge hotel brand.

So far, TLLC has struggled to secure a solid bid for the ailing chain and in March this year it was rumoured that Permira was considering breaking it up.

A spokesperson for TLLC said: “We announced last November that we intended to find a new owner better suited to develop the Little Chef business and have now entered exclusive stages of discussions to do that with Lawrence Wosskow and Simon Heath.”

Wosskow and Heath founded OOTG in 1998 and expanded it rapidly.

The group now operates a number of brands – including Margarita’s Family Restaurants, Macey’s and Potato Bake House – and consist’s of more than 80 sites, with 1,600 employees and a turnover of around £30m.