Erinaceous is still in talks with potential buyers despite the withdrawal of HBOS last week from takeover discussions.

The AIM-listed property services firm is understood to be talking to a bank, a hedge fund and several private investors about forming a consortium to back a management buyout.

The key issue is the nature of the financing behind the bid, and the proportion of equity and debt.

In addition to HBOS, the company had been in talks with private equity firms Bridgepoint and 3i Vincent Tchenguiz’s Consensus.

Any deal with the new consortium would fall far short of HBOS’s 300p a share valuation, however, as the company’s share price has more than halved in the past six months. Erinaceous’ share price closed on Friday at 158p, after hitting a two-and-a-half year low of 143p on Thursday.