Cyrun ups its SVM bid to £60m

US INVESTOR Cyrun Finance has upped its bid for the SVM UK Active Fund from £58.2 million to £60.7m in an effort to lure more shareholders to accept its offer.

Cyrun confirmed that it had received support from shareholders representing 6.7 per cent of SVM's issued share capital. Cyrun already holds 28.12 per cent of the SVM fund.

The next closing date for Cyrun's offer is 12 May, but it could be extended by two weeks. Steve Miller, chairman of Cyrun, said its shareholding made it more likely that it could "exert influence on the SVM board in future regardless of the outcome of the offer".

The board of the Edinburgh fund maintained its advice to shareholders "to take no action and, in particular, not to sell shares to Cyrun".

Cyrun launched its bid for the fund, managed by Edinburgh-based SVM Asset Management, in March.