Raven Mount bid for Swan Hill to be discussed next week

Within a day of launching its hostile take-over bid for Swan Hill, the south east housebuilder, Raven Mount's surprise move has become unconditional as a result of 52% of Swan Hill's shareholders announcing that they were backing the offer.

A spokesman for Raven Mount said today (Thursday): "We'll be requesting a meeting with Swan Hill management and expect to achieve that next week. We'll be pressing them to issue a recommendation of the offer."

While it could already be "game over" for Swan Hill as an independent group, there is still the possibility of rival offers being made now that the business has been put in play.

The first closing date of the Raven Mount offer is 3 December.