Interflora, the flower delivery service, has accepted a £66m takeover offer from FTD of the US. The deal was subject to agreement by its 1,800 member florists but was finalised on July 31st. It caused contoversy as the members had agreed to sell out to private equity firm 3i for just £23m in February 2005, giving up Interflora's 80-year-old mutual status. The Directors, led by Steve Richards, paid just £200k for a stake now worth £9.2m in the wake of the recent deal. The florists received £12k each from the sale to 3i, and those who reinvested their stake following the demutualisation are now set to receive a return of £36k, three times their investment. FTD already owns the rights to the Interflora brand in the US.