Murray Goulburn is understood to have continued to buy shares in Warrnambool Cheese and Butter on the market at $4.50 on Monday after picking up five per cent on Friday (the bulk of which was said to be from 452 Capital, one of the last institutions remaining in the stock).
The Australian Financial Review reports that Warrnambool, advised by Gresham Partners, has a shareholder cap in place that will allow Murray to own only 10pc of the company, rising to 15pc in May.
It is notable that neither of those figures would constitute a large enough stake to block a proposed scheme of arrangement, which is the likely method a rival bid would take.
Murray's aggressive approach means a rival bidder could be viewed as a "white knight". Saputo would be a particularly good one as it does not have existing local operations and therefore it could allay Warrnambool board's fear of lower milk prices after a takeover due to reduced competition.
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