Cashbox provided the day’s other bid story, with the cash machine operator up 5p to 31½p after saying that it had received expressions of interest. The group was rumoured to have been approached by several American hedge funds.

After a year of consolidation for the ATM groups, investors hoped that the news would trigger an auction among trade and financial buyers. Rutland Partners would be one possible predator: last month the American private equity group bought the European units of TRM, the US operator, to add to Scott Tod, the British company it bought in July.

The bid approach also focused attention on Card-point, the British market leader, which rose 1¼p to 93p. It was rumoured late last year to have rejected indicative approaches.

Plans to shed its underpants lifted Caldwell Investments by 1¾p to 10¾p. The group, which imports Y-fronts to Germany, said that it would not be renewing a warehouse lease and would scale back other operations, which include supplying parasols for baby buggies. Instead, Caldwell was investigating putting money into a bio-diesel project in Brazil.

Ingenta firmed 0.37p to 1.27p as it agreed to buy its rival online publisher Vista for £4.6 million in debt and stock. Interactive World, a mobile phone content group, added 10½p to 87½p after reassuring on current trading and dividend plans.

Offer talks for Dawson International, down 0.88p to 5.87p, unraveled nearly three months after the cashmere group said that it had received approaches.

Bloomsbury lost 7¼p to 217¼p, erasing the gain made a day earlier on news that it will be publishing the final Harry Potter instalment on July 21. ABN Amro said that while 2007 profits will be shored up, the release “brings forward the focus upon life after Harry”.

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