Vivian Imerman, the chairman of Scotch Whisky group Kyndal, is attempting to take majority control of the company.
Imerman, through a company controlled by himself and Robert Tchenguiz, who helped finance the MBO that saw Kyndal bought out from US group JBB in 2001, already controls 35% of the whisky group.
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He is now reported to have offered 500p per share to staff who control another 25% of the company stock. The staff paid 400p a share at the time of the MBO.
The remaining stock is accounted for by warrants held by the investment bank WestLB and shares held by six WestLB employees.
