Two giants of British catalogue retailing, Great Universal Stores and Argos, locked catalogues this week in a hostile battle of the bulky colour brochures. GUS, best known for its Kay's catalogues, has gone shopping with a £1.6 billion sterling cheque to take control of Argos, an order form instantly rejected as "entirely opportunistic". GUS, which has been eyeing Argos for some time, with the aim of creating Britain's biggest catalogue shopping group, is offering to buy Argos shares at 570p, against the pre-bid market price of 449p. As the market savoured the prospect of a higher offer the speculators swooped, elevating Argos shares to 630p. GUS put forward a catalogue of reasons to tempt Argos shareholders to accept its "full and fair" terms and sign the order form. Argos is in financial difficulty, recently issuing its third profit warning in just over a year.

Analysts believe that Argos may be doomed to be the latest company to fall to the aggressive spending power of GUS, which has acquired a string of companies over the past three years. Flicking through the sales pitch in the formal offer document may, like the catalogue, turn the heads of many shareholders.