Macquarie and 3i are understood to have this morning bought £100m (€146m) of shares in Associated British Ports, the UK's largest ports operator that today recommended a £2.5bn cash offer from a consortium led by Goldman Sachs.

Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein bought the shares in early trading for an undisclosed client at about 820p. Admiral Acquisitions, the Goldman consortium, has offered 810p.