All bets off?

The battle between corporate bookmakers Con Kafataris and Mark Read has already set some sort of record – possibly the quickest appeal to the Takeovers Panel ever.

Kafataris' Centrebet had barely given the postman enough time to struggle through the Sydney heat to deliver the takeover documents to Read's International All Sports before filing an appeal to the panel.

Centrebet's grievance is the nature of a confidentiality and standstill agreement it signed while taking part in IAS' efforts to find a buyer for its Australian assets late last year.

Centrebet argues that the obligations go "beyond what is necessary” to protect IAS, are anti-competitive and "frustrate the making of a genuine takeover” bid for IAS.

It will be a crucial decision for Centrebet, receiving advice from Wilson HTM and legal firm Addisons, whose bid depend on those agreements being waived.

That does not appear likely to occur with the help of IAS, which said today it will refuse such a request and would fight "vigorously” any application to the panel, and has hired a team from legal firm Norton Gledhill to help in that regard.

Indeed, IAS said the 28c a share bid significantly undervalues the company, which will release its December half results soon which it says will show a doubling in pre-tax earnings.