Capital Group, the US fund manager, missed out on £3.7m (€5.4m) this week when it sold its entire 2% stake in Associated British Ports on Wednesday, just before the start of a £2.6bn bidding war which has since pushed the shares up by more than 70p each.

The bidding battle began after Australia's Macquarie Bank and UK buyout firm 3i revealed they were preparing a takeover bid to rival an 810p-per share recommended offer from a consortium led by Goldman Sachs.