There is no counterbidding.

After both agreed that the bidding and counterbidding had gone far enough, Mr. Finkelstein said he would prefer to buy two Federated divisions rather than the whole company.

Despite some counterbidding from Buckingham's Holdings Ltd, Walton's succeeded in gaining control of Anthony Hordern and Sons Ltd during late 1969.

The competitive bidding process, which was entirely confidential and permitted no counterbidding after Monday's deadline, raised questions among financial experts as to whether some of the other bidders would have been willing to top the Investcorp offer.