Wittington Investments, owned by Galen Weston, the Canadian billionaire, has lost some acceptances for its £598m (€832m) offer for Selfridges, the UK retailer, as shareholders wait to see if a rival bid appears.

Wittington, which is being advised by Morgan Stanley, is in the unusual situation of owning or having acceptances for fewer shares in Selfridges than it had a week ago. It now holds or has acceptances for 31.81% of the issued share capital, whereas on June 26 when it increased the offer for the third time, it had 32.14%.