A London-based financial services company has said that it is preparing to make a takeover bid for West Ham. Intermarket are believed to have signed a non-disclosure agreement with Rothschild, the bank which is acting on behalf of West Ham's parent company, CB Holding, to secure investment in the club.

David Byrne, Intermarket's company secretary and joint founding director, told the Telegraph: "We'll be making a bid on Monday". He added that Intermarket expected to hear back soon whether the offer is viewed favourably by CB Holding, the company formed by creditors and headed by the Icelandic bank Straumur which runs West Ham.

Intermarket is thought to value the club at close to £100m, taking into account debts said to be in the region of £49m and payments owed to Sheffield United over the Carlos Tevez affair, as well as other outstanding transfer-related instalments.

Straumur has already turned down an approach from the former Birmingham City co-owners David Sullivan and David Gold, and the bank is said to be in no hurry to complete a deal having been granted a moratorium on its debts until September 2010.

The continuing uncertainty may however force the manager, Gianfranco Zola, to offload some of his star names in the January transfer window, in order to generate funds for new players.