Mettle's offer, announced yesterday, threatens to scupper iProp's R83,9m management buyout plan which was tabled in January this year and was to be put to the vote at a general meeting tomorrow.

"When we saw the 500c offer from iProp's management we thought there was a little bit more value in the company," said Mettle's deal maker Andre von Bulow. Mettle's offer is 560c an iProp share.

Von Bulow said the Mettle offer would deliver an additional R9,9m of distributable proceeds to iProp shareholders compared to the management buyout.

Iprop went through an unbundling process last year which transferred its investment property assets to a new-listed vehicle called iFour. The iProp group was left only with a land development division focusing on rehabilitation of mined land. Iprop management could not be reached for comment yesterday.

The iProp management buyout is housed in a vehicle called Clidet No433 which is driven by iProp's MD Petro Heydenrych, marketing director Richard Bennet, financial director Coleen du Preez and development manager John Martin.

iProp's share price closed 5c stronger at 500c yesterday.