(Reuters) - French workplace supplies provider Elis SA made an informal takeover proposal to U.S. peer UniFirst Corp ( UNF ), Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Massachusetts-based UniFirst ( UNF ) approached Elis to assess its interest in a deal after Elis's takeover approach to rival Vestis Corp ( VSTS ) became public last month, the report added.

At the same time, Elis and Vestis ( VSTS ) are still holding exploratory talks about a potential deal, Bloomberg said.

Elis, UniFirst ( UNF ) and Vestis ( VSTS ) did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside regular business hours.

Elis and Vestis ( VSTS ) confirmed the interest about a month ago after Reuters first reported the acquisition offer.

Elis, which has a market value of about 9.2 billion euros ($10.15 billion) including debt, is a provider of workplace supplies and offers maintenance services for uniforms.

($1 = 0.9060 euros)