BRITISH commercial TV group Granada has tabled a formal £711 million pound sterling agreed bid for its neighbour Yorkshire Tyne Tees Television although some shareholders remained opposed to the price.

Yorkshire Tyne Tees chairman Mr Ward Thomas called on institutional investor Mercury Asset Management to rethink its opposition to the £11.75 per share bid, which he said was a good price. "I hope on reflection they will come into line," he said, adding that any speculation that a counter bidder may offer a higher price might well be "just poppycock".

Mercury, who Mr Thomas said had been the most vocal opponent of the takeover price, declined to comment. Granada, which already owns 27 percent of Yorkshire, is offering two new Granada shares and £18.25 pence in cash for every three Yorkshire shares.