Management at German data services firm Techem said Tuesday that while it favoured a bid by European private equity firm BC Partners, an unsolicited rival offer from Australian bank Macquarie was financially more attractive for shareholders. Techem, a leading provider of energy and water billing data services, said in a statement that it "welcomed" the 1.3-billion-euro (1.7-billion-dollar) cash offer from BC Partners' investment fund, Heat Beteiligungs III but was not in a position to recommend it to shareholders.

That was because the higher price being offered by Macquarie "was more attractive for shareholders from a financial point of view," Techem said in a statement.

Originally, Macquarie had offered to buy Techem for 44 euros per share in a bid dismissed as "unsolicited" by Techem's management. BC Partners then entered the running — with Techem's support — at the end of November with a higher bid of 52 euros per share.

But last week, Macquarie bettered that bid by offering 55 euros per share.

In a statement Tuesday, Techem said it found that BC Partner's offer made strategic sense, since the bidder supported management's current growth strategy.

BC Partners also promised to maintain the current operational sites and jobs, pledges that Macquarie had not made, Techem noted.

The offer price by BC Partners was therefore "appropriate" and "from an entrepreneurial point of view preferable to the bid by Macquarie".

Nevertheless, given that the Macquarie offer was higher and more attractive for shareholders, "management cannot offer a recommendation whether to accept or reject BC Partner's bid," the statement said.

However, it would be in a position to issue such a recommendation "if circumstances change," Techem added, in what could be interpreted as a veiled invitation to BC Partners to raise its bid still further.

Techem employs a workforce of 2,400 and operates electricity and water metres in some 7.3 million households in Germany.

It booked net profit of 39.9 million euros on sales of 466.8 million euros in the year ended September 2005.