The battle for Crown Sports has intensified with chairman Jeff Chapman's would-be takeover vehicle Bennelong urging investors to accept its 5p offer, a price the rest of Crown's board have dubbed 'derisory'. Bennelong believes its offer is reasonable, arguing that it puts Crown 'on a prospective p/e of 14.5 times'. According to Bennelong, this is at a significant premium to 'Crown's larger and more profitable quoted competitors' who are currently valued 'between 7.6 and 10.8' times earnings. Bennelong also notes that Crown spent more than £31m on acquisitions between April and July 2001, yet saw earnings per share fall 45% to 0.17p in the first half of 2002. Crown's independent directors, however, feel that the offer significantly undervalues the company, owner of several well known brands including Dragons Health Clubs. In a rather confrontational statement they declared that 'shareholders should appreciate that this derisory offer is not about the historic operating performance of Crown, which is a legacy of Mr Chapman's flawed strategy. It is about establishing real value for shareholders'. To this end Crown says it is close to concluding the £14.5m sale of its golf club business 'which alone equates to 5p per Crown Sport share'. Buying in now could reward daring investors.