China's Haier says it had reached 81.12 per cent ownership of Fisher and Paykel Appliances - still short of the 90 per cent required to trigger compulsory acquisition.
The most vociferous shareholding opponent of the issue, Tower, has already accepted, leaving small pockets of shareholders who have yet to sell their shares to Haier.
Haier has increased its offer to $1.28 from an original offer of $1.20 and has taken great pains to stress that it would not increase the offer price further.
"It they (Haier) don't get there, I would have thought that they would just extend," said one fund manager.
"Even the most vocal of shareholders appear to have accepted, so there does not appear to be any one large hold-out," he said.
If Haier fails to achieve 90 per cent ownership, it faces the prospect of having to leave the company as a listed entity, which can be expensive and difficult to administer.
F&P Appliances, being an old company, will have shareholders spread far and wide, so tracking them all down will now be the main challenge facing Haier, the fund manager said.
Shares in F&P Appliances last traded at $1.27.
