The future of Telent, the rump of the Marconi telecoms equipment business, was on a knife-edge yesterday ahead of an extraordinary general meeting that has caused ructions in the hedge fund community.

Shareholders vented their anger about the tactics of Polygon, a US-based hedge fund that has threatened to block the £346m ($639m) acquisition of the UK's Telent by Fortress Investment Group, a private equity rival. In a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Polygon said it had a 23.9 per cent interest in Telent and intended to vote against the transaction. Fortress needs the backing of 75 per cent of Telent shareholders under the terms of the acquisition.