The battle to acquire Irish Continental Group intensified yesterday when its chief executive Eamonn Rothwell acquired 1.75 million shares in the ferry operator for €22 each.

The share buying cost Mr Rothwell €38.5 million. This means Mr Rothwell and four other members of ICG's management team now control 21.5 per cent of ICG.

This enables them to block a recommended offer by Moonduster, which comprises Philip Lynch's One51 Capital and the Doyle shipping group in Cork.

Moonduster, which owns 20.38 per cent of ICG, last week bid €22 cash a share for the ferry group. The €560.9 million offer is funded by Bank of Scotland (Ireland) and is due to be put before an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders for approval.

Aella, the bid vehicle being used by the management team, has indicated that it is willing to match Moonduster's offer.

On March 8th, Aella made a bid of €18.50 a share for ICG, which was recommended at the time by the company's independent directors. The €471 million offer was backed by AIB.

This was trumped by Moonduster last week with the independent directors withdrawing their recommendation for Aella and switching it to the consortium led by Mr Lynch.

Shares in ICG closed in Dublin up 4.6 per cent at €23 in a day of heavy trading for the ferry company.

In addition to Mr Rothwell's share buying, another 950,000 units of ICG stock changed hands.

Rumours circled that another party was stake building in the company but no declarations were made to the stock market by the close of trading.

The independent directors met yesterday to consider the latest twist in this corporate battle.

It is understood that the directors will consult both sides to seek clarifications of their intentions. The directors continue to recommend the Moonduster offer.

It is understood that the management team is hoping that its proposed bid will prove more attractive to ICG as Aella would not face any competition issues and a deal could probably be concluded more quickly.

By contrast, the Doyle's involvement in Moonduster could raise concerns with the Competition Authority.

Between them, the Doyle Group, which is involved in stevedoring, and ICG would control about 60 per cent of cargo handling at the terminal in Dublin Port.

MTL, a UK-owned company, would be the only other major player in that facility.

A long-running competition investigation in relation to this could result in the acquisition not closing for several months.

A source close to Moonduster said it was "proceeding with its scheme of arrangement".

Both sides can now effectively block the other's bid.

With shares trading yesterday above the offer price from Moonduster, the expectation is that one or both sides will increase its bid for ICG.

This is good news for shareholders. ICG closed trading at €15.60 on March 7th, the day before Mr Rothwell made his first move.