Yesterday, Babcock International, the engineering support services company, initiated a major 1.14 Billion Pound acquisition bid for the rival VT Group, the support services company which is itself in the middle of a takeover battle for a much small competitor.

As has been confirmed by Babcock, the company had made an indicative proposal to VT's Chiefs last week, which valued one VT share at 633.9 pence, a premium of 35% as compared to the most recent closing price recorded in Friday.

The bid was, however, rejected without any discussions whatsoever.

VT has stressed that the offer had "substantially undervalued" the company, and was also "strategically unsound".

The acquisition bid by Babcock has come about 4 years after the group managed to fight off a joint takeover attempt from VT and BAE Systems.