MANCHESTER car dealer Lookers was today in confident mood as the deadline passed for shareholders to accept the hostile all-share bid from larger rival Pendragon.

A source close to the Old Trafford company said: "I think they are confident they are going to survive. They have put up a good quality defence.

"Lookers is performing very well and it's not often that shareholders decide not to back a management doing what they said they were going to do."

Nottingham-based Pendragon's hopes were dealt what many City observers felt was a fatal blow this week when car retail heavyweight Tony Bramall bought a 24.4 per cent stake in Lookers from GE Capital and pledged to back the Lookers' defence.

In an ironic twist, Mr Bramall made a é76m fortune from selling his car retail chain CD Bramall to Pendragon in 2004.

Pendragon only needs 50.1 per cent of shareholders to back its bid, which values Lookers at 688p per share or é260m.