Care First defence due

Care First, the nursing home group under a pounds 241m hostile bid from Bupa, will post its defence document late tonight, the latest time it can do so under takeover rules. The document, to be released to the press on Sunday morning, is expected to say that the company has found a new chief executive. Though he will not be named, The Independent understands he is Gerard Wainwright, ex-managing director of Nesbitt Evans, the medical products company. The document will say that Care First is in talks with other potential bidders.

Though interest from Warburg Pincus is understood to be fading, Care First's former chief Chai Patel is still trying to mount a bid. Care First will argue that Bupa's 150p-a-share offer is too low as conditions in the nursing home market are improving and occupancy rates rising.