A Goldman Sachs-led consortium whose £2.2bn (€3.2bn) bid for Associated British Ports was immediately rejected last month, has reportedly returned with a new offer despite a plea from Goldman's chief executive that the bank stop using its own money to fund bids perceived as hostile.

The US bank's infrastructure fund, which has teamed up with Canadian rival Borealis and GIC Special Investments, a Singapore government-backed fund, has increased its proposed offer to at least 775p per share, or £2.34bn, according to an unsourced report in The Daily Telegraph.