Tim Waterstone, founder of the eponymous bookseller now owned by British retailer HMV Group, may offer £250 million stg (€367 million) to buy the company back, the Sunday Telegraph newspaper has reported.

The paper said Tim Waterstone had secured private equity backing for a bid for Waterstones.

Progress from here will depend on outcome of the bid approach for HMV which the company announced on January 30 and which is believed to have come from private equity firm Permira.

Last December, HMV let an agreed offer for another bookseller, Ottakar's, lapse after it was referred to the Competition Commission, but said it still wanted to buy Ottakar's if the deal was cleared by the watchdog.