Trio of bidders go head to head in war for stake in broker Panmure Gordon

HEDGE fund millionaire Bertrand des Pallieres went head to head with private equity firm BlueGem and a mystery bidder last night in the fight for a large stake in Panmure Gordon, one of the City’s oldest stockbrokers.

Final proposals were due in by yesterday evening, in time for a board meeting at Panmure today to weigh up the options. The trio will not be given another chance to try and out-bid one another.

Des Pallieres’ hedge fund SPQR Capital last week launched an aggressive proposal to buy a 43 per cent stake in Panmure at 28p a share, trumping a previous 24p-a-share offer for 40 per cent of the firm from BlueGem.

The third bidder is also understood to have tabled an offer over 24p a share.

41-year-old des Pallieres, a veteran of Deutsche Bank, is seeking to become executive chairman of Panmure. He has outlined a hard-hitting strategy of turning the firm into a global player, by expanding its corporate broking division, moving into derivatives and starting up a fixed income unit.

A decision from Panmure is expected by Monday.