Silvermines, which has already rejected an indicative of £38.6 million sterling (£46 million) offer from a management buyout group headed by chief executive Clem Jansen, may be facing a rival bid from the British engineering group TT Holdings which has built up a 6 per cent stake in the Irish-registered but UK-based electronics group.

Speculation on a bid from TT has intensified after TT failed last week in a bid for the British group Hall Engineering. With Hall no longer in its sight, some sources believe that TT will now focus its attentions on Silvermines.