The AA could be taken back into private equity ownership, as the motoring group said it was in talks with three suitors in an effort reduce its £2.65bn debt pile. The firm, which was founded in 1905 as the Automobile Association, said it needed to raise funds to pay down its debts. With 3,000 patrol vehicles, the AA provides roadside assistance to 12 million members, including 3 million personal members, and also offers home and car insurance and driving lessons. The AA said it had received three takeover approaches from private equity groups: a possible joint cash offer from Centerbridge Partners and TowerBrook Capital Partners, and separate offers from the US buyout firms Platinum Equity and Warburg Pincus. TowerBrook recently acquired the Azzurri Group, which owns the Zizzi and Ask Italian restaurant chains. The AA said each offer would involve “a significant amount of new equity capital being injected into the group, in order to reduce indebtedness following completion”. Its shares jumped 13% to 28.2p on the news, which values the group at £175m, excluding debt. There is no certainty that a deal will be agreed, the firm said, adding that it was also considering raising money from investors separately. It stressed that it remained within its financial covenants, but noted that £913m of its borrowings come up for repayment within the next two years. The AA has been struggling under a heavy debt burden for years. It was owned by the private equity groups CVC and Permira until they floated it on the stock market in 2014, with debts of £3bn. The AA said its trading profits would be only slightly below last year’s £350m, as it had been quite resilient through the Covid-19 pandemic. The business made a profit before tax of £107m in the year to January 2020, double that in the previous year. Simon Breakwell, the chief executive, has masterminded a turnaround in the roadside business in recent years, and many AA callouts are now made via an app. Initially the coronavirus crisis led to fewer people using their cars as many switched to working from home, but vehicle use has picked up as people start returning to work and want to avoid public transport. The number of calls requesting emergency assistance from the AA tumbled to 40% of normal levels in the week after the UK government imposed a Covid-19 lockdown, but since then callouts have increased and are almost back at normal levels.