Jefferson Smurfit Group has refused to say whether it has made an approach to buy Norcor Holdings, the British packaging group in which it already holds a stake of just under 30 per cent.

Norcor disclosed yesterday that it had received an approach which may - or may not - lead to an offer. It has been speculated that either Smurfit or Linpac, another British group which holds more than 21 per cent of Norcor, is the party involved.

One thing is certain, however, if Smurfit is a bidder it would need the support of Linpac and vice versa, while any third party would need the support of both of Norcor's major shareholders.

Norcor shares had risen ahead of the announcement of a possible offer and then continued to rise, closing 18p higher on 61 1/2p sterling.

This values the British company at just over £17 million sterling (€27 million).

Smurfit built up its 29.9 per cent stake in Norcor during 1997, but that stake-building was followed by Linpac which progressively acquired its 21 per cent stake the following year.