Trevor Hemmings, the leisure tycoon who owns Blackpool Tower, could become kingmaker in the battle for Entertainment Rights (ER), the owner of Postman Pat. His Ashby Manor vehicle has increased its stake from 14.4 per cent to 17.3 per cent.

ER disclosed that it was in takeover talks on Tuesday, a week after a dire Christmas trading statement. Och-Ziff Capital, the hedge fund, is understood to be interested, with potential interest from Chorion, Apax's HIT Entertainment and GSO Capital Partners. ER shares edged up 0.18p to 8.28p.

Antonov, the maker of automatic transmission systems, rose 13p to 37p after saying that plans to form a manufacturing venture with Loncin, of China, were on course and that it had secured extra finance of €10million (£7.4million). Antonov ditched a previous Chinese partner that had failed to meet its commitments.

Superscape, the publisher of mobile phone games, closed up 1.79p at 9.54p after agreeing a takeover by Glu, its American rival, at 10p cash per share. Shares in Superscape, founded in 1993, were 64p three years ago.

Colliers CRE, the commercial property consultancy, rose by 5p to 42p after it said that a good performance from professional consultancy had offset a fall in investment income.

Gas Turbine Efficiency, a provider of exhaust cleaning products, rose 5p to 42p after a strong trading update.

Takeover talks for Dawson International, Britain's oldest cashmere company, which were revealed in August, appear to be in doubt after recent profit warnings. Ningxia Zhongyin Cashmere, Dawson's Chinese supplier, said yesterday that it had yet to begin due diligence and that “there is still considerable uncertainty on this issue”. The shares rose 0.375p to 3.125p.

Shares in Thomson Intermedia, the research consultant, fell 22p to 34p after a profit warning. Five directors bought a total of 180,000 shares.

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