Bankers have played down the chances of a new bid to rival UK electricity provider National Grid's £12.5bn (€20.4) offer for Lattice, the UK gas delivery company, despite a report suggesting a challenge was increasingly likely.

Schroder Salomon Smith Barney (SSSB) said in a research note that the value of the offer had fallen so far that "other major European utility companies, perhaps in conjunction with a large financial institution, may (indeed should) become interested".