The housebuilder confirmed that Redrow and Galliford Try had made cash-and-shares and all-share offers respectively

Redrow has formally backed out of the bidding to buy rival housebuilder Bovis.

In a statement to investors this morning, Redrow said it had concluded it was “not in its shareholders’ best interests” to increase its takeover offer.

It emerged on 12 March that Bovis had been approached with takeover offers by both Redrow and Galliford Try, both of which it rejected.

But talks with Galliford Try - which proposed an all-share deal valuing Bovis at £1.19bn, or £8.86 per share - are ongoing.

Under stock exchange rules it has until 9 April to make a firm offer or ‘walk away’.

Last month Bovis announced a 3% fall in annual pre-tax profits, down to £154.7m on turnover just over £1bn.

It also revealed it was making what it called a “one-off £7m customer care provision” after a high level of customer service issues, including buyers moving into newly built homes that suffered from problems including electrical and plumbing faults.

The group is still looking for a chief executive after the departure of David Ritchie in January.