A TAKEOVER battle for Teesport owner PD Ports looked likely last night after it confirmed a second bid approach had been received.

Only last week, the PD board were in favour of an offer from Endeavour Ports, which is a consortium of investors.

But yesterday, it received a new approach, believed to be from a rival Australian infrastructure fund.

The Northern Echo understands it is higher than Endeavour's 140.5p-a-share bid, which valued PD at £246m.

PD said the unnamed party was inspecting its accounts and that it was not possible to say whether the approach would result in a further offer being made.

While it did not name the second potential bidder, reports yesterday suggested it was infrastructure firm Babcock and Brown, of Sydney.

The counter-bid demonstrates the high level of interest in the ports sector, particularly in Teesport.

A report in the Financial Times said PD received the approach just before it gave its recommendation to the Endeavour consortium, which is made up of private equity group 3i; Australian financial services firm Challenger; and Australian fund manager Industry Funds Management.

Endeavour Ports has pledged to invest in the company's core operations and focus on keeping and developing contracts with customers.

It is also believed to favour continuing PD Ports' campaign to create 7,000 jobs in the region by opening a £300m deepwater container terminal on the Tees.

The Endeavour offer, which includes a pledge to pay shareholders a 1.5p dividend, was 26 per cent higher than PD's value when news of a potential takeover offer first broke in October.

PD Ports floated on the stock market in July last year after Japanese group Nikko sold the business.