Vinci, the French airports operator advised by UBS Warburg, denied that it would increase its offer for TBI from 90p (€1.45) to 130p per share, as Morgan Grenfell & Co increased its stake in TBI to 11.3% for an unknown buyer.

Last month Vinci launched a hostile 90p-per-share offer for TBI which has been rejected by the TBI board, valuing the UK airports operator at £517m. Vinci said that it did not intend to overpay for TBI and that it would not pay £1.30 per share or more for TBI under any circumstances. Sources close to TBI said that Vinci's latest announcement did not rule out the likelihood of it increasing its offer to between 100p per share and 110p per share. Morgan Grenfell increased its stake by buying TBI shares in the market at 95.4p and 95.9p. Macquarie Infrastructure, an investment division of Macquarie Bank in Australia, is considering the viability of making a counter-offer for TBI, according to sources close to the deal, which could force Vinci into a bidding war. TBI is being advised by Dresdner Kleinwort Wassserstein with support from Credit Lyonnais, and Hoare Govett, the company's broker.