The FTSE 100 shopping centre owner Hammerson could decide to renegotiate or even abandon a £3.4bn merger with a rival this week.
The board is expected to meet amid growing investor unrest over a proposed tie-up with Intu, whose properties include the Trafford Centre in Manchester.
The deal has faced questions since it was unveiled in December because Intu is heavily indebted and its assets are widely regarded as lower in quality than those of Hammerson, which include Birmingham’s Bullring.
Shareholder opposition has been stoked in recent weeks by two takeover approaches for Hammerson from the French group Klépierre that the British company dismissed as “opportunistic”.
