A £2.8 billion takeover of Merry Hill owner Intu is still on the table after a deadline for the deal was extended.

The Panel on Takeovers and Mergers has granted a two-week extension to a consortium of investors to either table a firm bid for Intu or withdraw from the process.

The consortium, comprising Peel Group, the Olayan Group and Brookfield Property Group, announced on October 4 that it was in the preliminary stages of considering a possible cash offer for Intu and had been given a deadline of November 1.

In a statement to the stock exchange, Intu said it had requested that the Panel extend this deadline by a fortnight which had now been granted.

Merry Hill centre owner Intu could be bought out
Merry Hill centre owner Intu could be bought out

Intu added: "A further announcement will be made when appropriate.

"There can be no certainty that any offer will be made for the company, nor as to the terms on which any offer might be made."

Peel Group's activities are focussed mainly on property and development in Greater Manchester and Merseyside.

The firm built and ran the Trafford Centre in Greater Manchester, which is one of the UK's largest shopping centres, before selling it to Intu, then known as Capital Shopping Centres, in 2011 for £1.6 billion.

At that time, it was the largest property deal in British history and gave Peel a stake of 23 per cent in Capital Shopping Centres which was rebranded as Intu in 2013.

Intu was the subject of a £3.4 billion takeover bid by Hammerson, which co-owns Bullring and Grand Central in central Birmingham, earlier this year but this was eventually dropped.

Olayan Group is a international investor based in the Middle East and Brookfield Property Group is an asset manager headquartered in Canada.