Candover, a UK buyout house, has refused to be drawn into a bidding war for Dutch conglomerate Stork, despite threats of a rival bid from Icelandic food processing company Marel, Stork's largest shareholder.

Candover said it had no intention of increasing its €1.5bn ($2.1bn) bid for Stork, in the face of continuing opposition from some shareholders including Marel, which yesterday stated it is interested in tabling a rival bid.