Close Brothers, the independent UK investment banking group, has turned down a £1.4 billion break-up bid launched by stockbroker Cenkos and the Icelandic bank Landsbanki. Close, which is ten times bigger than Cenkos, rejected the 950p-a-share offer and said that it would not pursue talks. The move follows a plunge in the value of Close Brothers’ shares, which lost nearly 30 per cent of their value between the start of this year and mid-August, during the recent turmoil in the financial markets. Close Brothers said in a statement: “The directors consider that this offer is wholly inadequate and accordingly have rejected the approach.” Cenkos was co-founded two years ago by Andy Stewart after his departure from Collins Stewart and was listed on the junior AIM market in London last year. It plans to take control of Close Brothers' asset management arm, its corporate advisory and investment banking business and Winterflood, the broker. Landsbanki intends to buy Close's corporate bank, which offers deposits and loans to small and medium-sized UK companies. Landsbanki, an Icelandic group, has built up a presence in British investment banking through acquisitions in Teather & Greenwood and Bridgwell Securities in the last two years. Close Brothers, the UK's oldest independent finance house, offers a broad range of services, including investment funds, wealth management, corporate finance, security trading and lending.