A three-way tussle may be brewing for Spindex Industries, with its founding Tan family revealing that they have been approached by two separate parties who are mulling over launching their own offers for the precision engineering firm.

One of these parties is private equity firm Northstar. The identity of the other has not yet been revealed.

In a surprise announcement late last Friday, Northstar said it is "considering all options with respect to Spindex". This includes making a conditional offer for Spindex shares at a price above the 85 cents a share that the Tans had offered for an acquisition via a scheme of arrangement on Feb 9. Northstar added that it will issue a letter to Spindex requesting that it be permitted to carry out due diligence on the group.

Separately, the Tan family's offer vehicle Hong Wei said it had been approached by two separate parties "who have indicated separate interests to explore a transaction with the offeror with a view to making an offer for the company". Both parties have made a request for due diligence but neither has put forward either a firm offer or a specific offer price, it said. So far, the Tans have accumulated a 44.68 per cent stake in Spindex.

In the face of possible competing bids, the Tans have terminated the proposed scheme of arrangement, and intend to proceed by means of a general offer. However, they are sticking to their offer of 85 cents, which they said they do not intend to revise.

Spindex shares last changed hands at 85 cents last Wednesday. Singapore-headquartered Northstar also launched a takeover offer for precision machine parts maker Innovalues last October. Innovalues is set to be delisted soon.