Small-cap financial services company The Trust Company has said that a $232mm offer by wealth company IOOF was likely to be superior to a rival bid by...

Small-cap financial services company The Trust Company has said that a $232mm offer by wealth company IOOF was likely to be superior to a rival bid by Perpetual, giving the latter until 5pm on Monday to sweeten its bid. TTC has been the subject of a three-way takeover battle, starting with a scrip-only bid by Equity Trustees in February. IOOF has offered guaranteed cash of $6.03 for each TTC share, plus a 22c dividend, or 0.74 IOOF shares for each TTC share. The cash consideration offered by IOOF is capped at $100mm - this compares with a capped $60mm offering by Perpetual which had previously received unanimous backing by the TTC board. Further obstacles exist for Perpetual as the ACCC has expressed concerns about a tie-up between the two companies and will deliver a verdict on the bid by September 19. Shares in TTC have risen 52.7% year-to-date.