Sweeteners to the original R92,6m offer which could thwart a management buyout proposed in January were made despite discoveries that led Mettle to reduce the value it initially attached to iProp.

Mettle said that subsequent to its original offer earlier this month, the company had found that the cash value of iProp's endowments was R7m and not R13m as initially estimated.

André van der Veen of Mettle said several negative factors had been discovered that could have justified a substantial reduction to the initial R5,60 a share that Mettle offered. This suggested that the management buyout offer of R5 a share could have been closer to iProp's real value.

Mettle on Friday reduced its share offer to R5,55, although the total offer was raised slightly to R94m. The additional amount would be used to reimburse iProp for certain expenses such as secondary tax on companies and transaction costs.

"We still think iProp offers very good value at the price that we are offering," said Van Veen. "iProp has some nice properties and overall, we think we can grow the business significantly."

Mettle introduced further improvements to the original offer which, it believed, would substantially reduce the risk of the transaction failing. The company removed the original condition that the property in iProp's portfolio be transferred to Mettle before shareholders had been paid.

In addition, Mettle would accept a decline in iProp's net asset value of up to R11m, without adjusting the purchase price.

The financial services company would also maintain its revised offer, even in the event of creditors of up to R20m claimed payment coming to light.

Mettle expected the iProp board to publish its views on the revised offer shortly.

Shareholders would vote on Friday (April 4) on the management buyout offer. If declined, shareholders would consider the Mettle offer. iProp was unbundled last year, transferring its investment property assets to new listed vehicle iFour.