Warner Chilcott confirmed last night that it has received its third takeover approach in a fortnight. The new interested party, a consortium formed by US private equity groups Bain Capital, Carlyle and Thomas H Lee, has begun due diligence enquiries.

Warner Chilcott said it had entered into a confidentiality agreement with the group. The Craigavon-based firm said the new approach may or may not lead to an offer.

It emerged two weeks ago that Warner Chilcott had received an approach that could lead to an offer of 800p per share. A second approach was subsequently made, raising the possibility of a takeover battle.

The first approach is understood to have come from a consortium comprising Goldman Sachs's private equity arm, Blackstone Group and Texas Pacific.

The identity of the second potential bidder is less clear, with some in the market believing it could be linked to fellow pharmaceutical firm, Barr Laboratories.

Warner Chilcott's shares closed unchanged at 821p last night.