A group of shareholders that hold a combined 10.4% stake in TietoEnator have stated that they will not accept Nordic Capital's EUR15 per share offer for the IT services firm.
Between them Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Company, OP-Pohjola Group Central Cooperative, Society of Swedish Literature in Finland and The State Pension Fund own 8.7% of the company's shares.
In a statement, Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Company says the offer does not reflect the value of TietoEnator: "Based on the current prospects publicly disclosed by the company the shareholders mentioned above have a positive view of TietoEnator's possibilities to develop its governance, strategy and execution as a publicly listed company."
In addition, executive board member Pekka Viljakainen and 10 other private shareholders, who own a combined 1.7% of TietoEnator's shares, say they will also reject the bid.
The news looks set to scupper Nordic Capital's offer - recently extended to 23 May - which was dependant on holders of at least 90% of TietoEnator's shares accepting the deal.
Earlier this week Reuters reported that Blackstone, Telenor and EDB Business Partner are in talks with TietoEnator about a white-knight bid. Citing "people close to the matter", the report said the consortium is considering a bid before merging the firm with EDB. However, the structure of the bid has not yet been decided.
TietoEnator originally rejected the unsolicited bid from Nordic Capital's bid vehicle Cidron Services in March. At the time Matti Lehti, chairman of the board, TietoEnator, said the offer "does not reflect the true value of TietoEnator shares".