Worldpay, the payments processing company chaired by former CBI president Sir Mike Rake, has postponed a decision on whether to fire the starting gun on a £6bn flotation.
The group and its advisers are debating whether to press ahead with a London flotation that would be one of the largest this year in the City - or whether to accept a bid from French rival Ingenico.
Sources said the decision on which route to take was finely balanced and indicated there would be another meeting on Sunday. It is believed that the company is weighing up the risk of both options.
The flotation exposes the company to the volatility of the markets post-China turmoil, whereas the bid from Ingenico would require substantial financing and shareholder approval.
Ingenico is up against a rival bid from Germany’s Wirecard and a private equity consortium comprising Blackstone and Hellman & Friedman but the French group is considered to be in pole position if the float does not go ahead.
Worldpay was sold by the bailed-out Royal Bank of Scotland to the private equity groups Advent and Bain nearly five years ago.
Rake recently quit his job as a Barclays director, where he played a major role in ousting Antony Jenkins, to take over as chair at Worldpay. The group was previously chaired by John Allan, the new chairman of Tesco.
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