The battle to take over the prestigious Wentworth golf facility in Surrey has entered confused territory, with the main bidders effectively in the dark as to which offer is likely to be successful.

The muddle, which has been developing for a number of weeks, centres on the pre-emption rights that have been exercised by a number of Wentworth's 26 "A" shareholders.

This group, which controls 40 per cent of the club, includes the Irish consortium which owns the Savoy Hotel Group and hotelier Mr Surinder Arora.

Both entered the takeover process after Wentworth's 60 per cent shareholder, Chelsfield, had agreed to accept an offer for the club from retailing millionaire Mr Richard Caring. They did so by exercising special rights that allow them to match bids that have been made for the club.

It is unclear, however, which "A" shareholder exercised pre-emption rights first and thus secured the position as a bidder.

Quinlan Private, which leads the Savoy investors, is believed to be confident of having been the first to exercise the pre-emption rights. This is likely to be clarified by Wentworth's directors later this week, with all parties involved thought to have sought legal advice on the matter.

It is also unclear at this stage how the pre-emption move has been affected by Mr Caring's reported willingness to raise his offer from £100 million (€147 million) to £110 million.

It is possible that this bid will not stand, since the "A" shareholders exercised their pre-emption rights at £100 million.

The fact that £110 million has been on the table, however, will probably mean that whoever eventually successfully bids for the club will be forced by the "A" shareholders to raise their offer to this level in respect of the "A" shares. Mr Arora is thought to have offered to do this already.