Shares in TDC fell yesterday after the company's biggest shareholder said on Sunday night it would not accept an agreed $12bn cash offer for Denmark's largest telecoms operator from a consortium of private equity groups.

ATP, Denmark's biggest pension fund, owns 5.51 per cent of TDC. Its move could threaten Europe's biggest ever private equity acquisition if other shareholders follow suit. "This was a pure investment decision," said Bjarne Graven Larsen, chief investment officer at ATP.