Ennstone's offer for a share of Johnston accepted

Ennstone has today (Thursday) announced that it now owns or has received valid acceptances for 4% of the share capital of Johnston Group.
 
The offer has been extended and the next closing date is 8 September.
 
Two days ago, Ennstone's £48.3 m bid for Johnston was trumped by a rival £53m recommended bid from Anglo American , which already owns almost 25% of Johnston.
 
As part of the agreement, Anglo has granted an option to Ennstone to buy Johnston's Leinthall Quarry and asphalt plant near Leominster in the West Midlands for £11.25m should its offer be successful.

Ennstone has faced criticism from its own shareholders over its bid for Johnston. The latter is twice the size of Ennstone, but the majority of its business would be non-core to Ennstone, meaning a swift disposal would be required.

Speculation even emerged that Ennstone shareholder Aggregate Industries would launch a takeover bid for Ennstone.

Ennstone's AGM scheduled for 1 September has also been postponed.