Pressure builds on Precinct to make firm bid for Jurys

Shares in Jurys Doyle barely budged yesterday as pressure built on Precinct to make a firm bid for the hotel group or walk away from the process.

The consortium must cross a number of substantial hurdles over coming days if it is to have a chance of making a bid before Friday evening, the deadline set by the Takeover Panel.

Chief among these is the readiness of its equity backers - the London-based Reuben brothers - to bid for Jurys without Precinct's assistance. Sources say Simon Reuben, the most involved of the two brothers, is seeking an independent meeting with the Doyle family, who together own about 23 per cent of Jurys and effectively control its destiny.

The Reubens are thought to have no interest in making a hostile bid, however. They would also need to be released from their alliance with Precinct before being allowed to proceed with their own approach.

Precinct must also make provision for the stance of Sean Dunne, the developer who has spent about €205 million building an 18.23 per cent blocking stake in Jurys Doyle.

Mr Dunne is thought to have made contact with the Jurys board yesterday to discuss his position. A spokeswoman for the company declined to comment last night on any meeting, but she said Jurys had made it known that it was prepared to meet any of its shareholders.

Mr Dunne has built up his stake in Jurys at an average price of €17.80 per share, 30 cent more than Precinct has indicated it will pay. This suggests that the consortium will need to revise its approach higher if it is to have a chance of success.

Alternatively, Precinct may need to assure Mr Dunne that he will be given the chance to buy some of the hotel group's key sites in the event of a successful takeover.

It is understood that Precinct's new debt backing, secured from HBOS, is based on a bid of €17.50 per share being made in conjunction with the Reubens. Precinct's approach is also conditional on winning a recommendation from the Jurys board, which has so far not formally considered the new debt funding.

The board withdrew an earlier recommendation last week after Anglo Irish withdrew its support for Precinct's €1.1 billion approach. Due diligence was also suspended at that stage, thus making this Friday's deadline even tighter for Precinct than it was before. It is possible that the group could seek a new extension from the Takeover Panel to take account of this.

Shares in Jurys closed five cent stronger at €17.10 after a day of very weak trade.