Computacenter founders Peter Ogden and Philip Hulme have offered to buy the company back from its shareholders.

Computacenter shares jumped six per cent on Friday on rumours of the management buyout. The board of Computacenter issued a statement that it had received a prelimary proposal from a group led by Peter Ogden.

The bid group controls 44.2 per cent of Computacenter shares.

The statement continued: "An Independent Committee of the Board has been formed to consider the proposal, consisting of Nick Cosh and Cliff Preddy (the independent non-executive directors). The Independent Committee is being advised by HSBC Bank Plc."

The statement stressed that discussions are at an early stage and there is no certainty any offer will be made.

The UK's largest reseller has been on the stock market since 1998 when it floated for £1.2bn. But pressure on margins from its main hardware supplier HP has made business harder. In September chairman Ron Sandler warned that lower margins, vendors chasing direct sales from big accounts and lower rebates would have a permanent impact on UK business.®