Lewis likely to sell assets to fund Tesco recovery

London

JUST six weeks into his job, Tesco boss Dave Lewis must look at selling assets in Britain and abroad as he battles to raise funds to pull the world's No 3 grocer out of the deepest crisis in its 95-year history.

Trading at the British retailer has deteriorated to such an extent that its debt and ballooning pension deficit mean it could do with more cash. And that's even before it starts to consider the cost of a plan to revive sales.

Some analysts and investors think Mr Lewis should take advantage of his status as a new arrival to ask shareholders for money, rather than selling off valuable businesses such as its stores in Thailand or customer data specialist Dunnhumby.

But a rights issue, which some think should top £3 billion (S$6.1 billion), could prove a hard sell when Tesco is in the midst of investigations into the discovery of a £250 million black hole in its accounts. Plus, several investors want to see the re…