Closed books may end Heron's Crest bid

HOPES of a near-£500m takeover bid for housebuilder Crest Nicholson began to fade today as Gerald Ronson's Heron Group said it will not launch an offer unless its is shown the books before Wednesday.

Crest, whose board has so far refused to let veteran property tycoon Ronson inspect its management accounts, saw its shares slip 10p to 408p.

One analyst described the latest position as stalemate. Another, at Numis Securities, predicted that without a bid the shares could fall back to about 360p.

Heron, which holds a 23.4% stake in Crest, today urged other shareholders to put pressure on the board to open the books to Ronson. It said it had been 'unable to obtain any positive reply from the board in securing the information which it requires to value the business'.

A month ago, Heron reserved the right to make an offer for Crest without being given access to the information. Since then, the Takeover Panel has given Heron a 'put up or shut up' deadline of 4 May.

A Heron spokesman could not explain why Ronson had decided to withdraw his option of bidding even without access to the books. Crest said it had noted the Heron statement, which was being considered by its board. It hoped to issue a response today.

Heron had indicated that it would bid between 345p and 430p a share but Crest Nicholson responded by unveiling its 'hidden assets', which some analysts said gave it an overall net asset value of 500p a share.