The consortium bidding to buy property giant Intu has been granted a second extension to its ‘put up or shut up’ offer deadline.

The group, led by John Whittaker and comprising Saudi Arabia’s Olayan and Canadian property investor Brookfield Asset Management, previously had until 5pm tomorrow to announce a firm intention to make an offer or back away from a deal.

However, Intu revealed this morning that the deadline has been extended by a week and said “good progress” had been made in the takeover talks.

The shopping centre landlord said last month it was mulling an indicative cash proposal of 215p per share from Whittaker’s consortium.

The offer would value Intu at £2.9bn – less than the £3.4bn that rival Hammerson had been willing to pay before it pulled the plug on a deal in April.

Intu, which owns some of the UK’s most popular shopping malls including the Metrocentre, Lakeside and the Trafford Centre, said a further announcement would be made “when appropriate” and warned there “can be no certainty that any offer will be made”.