Braveheart Investment, the Scotland-based syndicate of business angels, yesterday fired a warning shot across the bows of takeover target Angle, admonishing the English technology investor that Braveheart would walk away if it remained "unwilling to open its books".

Braveheart Investment, the Scotland-based syndicate of business angels, yesterday fired a warning shot across the bows of takeover target Angle, admonishing the English technology investor that Braveheart would walk away if it remained "unwilling to open its books".

However, in a conflict being fought with sharpened regulatory statements to the London Stock Exchange, Angle launched a counter attack that claimed "the Braveheart announcement contains a number of factual inaccuracies".

At the same time, the Scottish group yesterday requested access to Angle's books "without delay", which it said it needed to help make a recommended offer for the company.

Surrey-based Angle added that it continued to hold shareholder meetings to discuss its positive preliminary results, which were announced earlier in the week, and insisted that it would provide a formal response "as soon as reasonably practicable".

Angle on Thursday said it had swung to a full-year pre-tax profit of £1.1m, compared with a loss of £9.3m the year before, as turnover climbed 15% to £3.9m.

In a statement accompanying the results, Garth Selvey, Angle's chairman, said: "The portfolio is maturing well with a substantially enhanced valuation reported in the year and there is now a reduced demand on Angle's cash."

However, Braveheart, which first signalled that it was considering making an all-share recommended offer for Angle on April 9, yesterday said that its understanding of the capital requirement of the Angle portfolio had been contradicted by this statement.

In its own statement yesterday morning, Braveheart said: "The terms under which Braveheart had proposed to consider making a recommended offer for Angle were based on publicly available information and further limited information provided to Braveheart by Angle late last year.

"Since this time, Angle has been unwilling to open its books to allow Braveheart to access sufficient information to carry out meaningful due diligence, despite Braveheart's approach being supported by Angle's major institutional shareholders."

The board of Angle, which has its headquarters in Guildford and specialises in investing in early-stage technology start-ups, has said it would not consider recommending Braveheart's proposal unless it agreed to fund some of Angle's portfolio companies.

However, Braveheart also said yesterday it was "concerned that the Angle portfolio has received insufficient funding for at least a year and that without further funding, potential technological advantages and optimal exit opportunities will be prejudiced".

It contended: "Angle's preliminary results suggest that the business is being actively managed for cash at the present time and not to maximise the longer-term value of its investment portfolio for its shareholders."

The Scottish investor also said it would need to assess each company before determining any investment.

"Decisions with regard to investment in the Angle portfolio can only be reached when that portfolio is within Braveheart's control," it said.

As the conflict escalated, shares in Angle fell 2.3% to 31.25p, while shares in Braveheart were flat at 116.5p.