Goldman Sachs has not given up the race to take out Irish pharmaceuticals group, Warner Chilcott, it emerged yesterday.

A consortium led by the US institution is reported to be considering offering 5.5 million sterling (€7.9 million) more for the Dublin-listed company than the JP Morgan offer its management backed last week.

Goldman is said to be prepared to offer 865p a share or 3 pence a share more for Warner Chilcott than the 862p tabled last week by JP Morgan and its partners.

That offer valued the Irish company at £1.579 billion, while Goldman's increased bid would place a price tag of over £1.584 billion on it.

A spokesman for Goldman Sachs refused to comment on the reports yesterday. However, he pointed out that the merchant banking firm had not said that it was pulling out of the race.

When Warner Chilcott's management announced last week that it had agreed to JP Morgan's 862p a share offer, London brokers said they would be surprised if Goldman Sachs walked away. Some reports claimed yesterday that it had bid 865p in the final hours of the auction for the Irish company.

The Goldman Sachs-led group opened the bidding for Warner Chilcott when it offered 800p for the company a number of weeks ago. It subsequently raised that to 837p before being trumped last week by the JP Morgan-led Waren consortium.

Along with JP Morgan, that group includes Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB).

It was one of three consortia that have been circling the Northern Ireland-based company for over a month. The third was led by Bain Capital, which indicated last week that it could still make the Irish company a firm approach.

Warner Chilcott's board has already said that it would recommend the Waren offer to shareholders. However, under the terms of the deal, it can revoke that if another party makes a counter-offer of at least 887p for the company within 28 days.

Waren would then either have to match the counter-offer or walk away with a £17 million "break" fee.

Warner Chilcott's directors are also committed to accepting the Waren offer in respect of their own 10.7 per cent stake. The bid values the total holding of two of the men at £170 million.

Under its terms, Dr JJ King, the company's executive chairman and largest shareholder, would get £126 million for his stake. Its chief financial officer, Mr Geoffrey Elliott, would receive £47 million.

Dr Allen McClay, its founder and the original biggest shareholder, missed the takeover bid by six months when he left earlier this year.

Warner Chilcott specialises in women's healthcare products, and has facilities in Northern Ireland, the US and South America. The company was originally known as Galen and went public in 1997.

It renamed itself Warner Chilcott earlier this year after taking over its US partner of the same name.