Shareholders voted for the postponement of a vote on the management offer on Friday.

Clidet and Mettle had both improved on offers submitted in January and last month respectively. Mettle raised the total purchase price from R92,6m to R94m and introduced changes it believed would substantially reduce the risk of the transaction failing.

Mettle believes iProp has properties which would enable the financial services firm to grow the business significantly.

The property company's management proved that it was equally keen to acquire the company's assets and liabilities, introducing an improved offer late last month.

Clidet offered to acquire all the assets excluding the seven-million iFour-linked units held by iProp for R67m. The iFour units would be distributed to shareholders as a dividend in specie.

The offers in effect translated into R6,18 per iProp share from management, and R5,55 from Mettle.

While the board has recommended that shareholders accept the management offer, the battle seems far from over.

Following the improved management offer, which was made in response to Mettle's improved offer, André van der Veen of Mettle said that his company also had the option of making structural changes to its bid.

Mettle's share price has improved significantly from 495c at the beginning of last month. It closed 11% higher at 600c after the shareholders' meeting on Friday.