The bidding war for Pizza Express is the latest sign that entrepreneurs have joined private equity firms as the most prominent players in UK mergers and acquisitions.

Johnson, who made millions of pounds from floating Pizza Express in 1993, now wants to take it private. Hugh Osmond, his old partner at Pizza Express who shared in the IPO windfall 10 years ago, has expressed an interest in buying Six Continents, the UK consumer goods group. Philip Green, a UK retail entrepreneur, is interested in buying Safeway, the UK supermarket currently in the midst of a five-way takeover battle.