A politically charged battle over ownership of MTS, the trading platform operator for European government bonds, was yesterday set to drag on as the company's board met to assess rival bids from Euronext/Borsa Italiana and eSpeed.

While the consortium of Euronext, the pan-European stock exchange operator, and Borsa Italiana enjoys strong political backing, a higher offer from eSpeed, which operates an electronic trading platform for US government bonds, has unsettled the race.