Exploration group Aminex has dismissed the takeover offer from Apple Oil and Gas as "a crude attempt to strip a successful business of its assets".

In a trenchant defence, it urged shareholders to reject the offer which it described as "uncertain" and as having little substance. "Apple casually states it will return cash to shareholders but it doesn't say how much or when," said Mr Brian Hall, Aminex chief executive.

"We urge our shareholders to read our document, not be taken in by Apple's fanciful claims and take no further action," Mr Hall said.

The offer of Apple shares and loan notes, worth 2.36p sterling, was at a 92 per cent discount to Aminex shares prior to the bid and was "a shamelessly low price", Aminex said in the defence document published yesterday.

Apple was offering "shares in a small, cash-hungry, loss-making, unlisted, offshore company with a part-time management team led by a chief executive who is well known for his involvement in the Anglo United/Coalite debacle of the early 1990s," Aminex said.

It described the offer as "a desperate attempt by Apple to seize cash from Aminex's shareholders to fund Apple's obligations in Colombia".

Apple, a British Virgin Islands-registered company with a listing on the Ofex over-the-counter market in London, has built up a stake of more than 17 per cent in Aminex.

But Aminex said the support for the Apple bid came principally from certain clients of Collins Stewart Stockbrokers in the Channel Islands, mostly registered in the name of Forest Nominees Limited.

"It is no surprise to discover that Forest Nominees Limited is also the holder of 32.77 per cent of Apple," Aminex said.

Apple has defended its bid, saying it has been fundamentally misunderstood as shareholders focused on the first part of the bid and not the loan note element.