DTZ saw its shares plummet by nearly 90% to 2.37 pence on Monday morning after it said that the preliminary takeover bids received offer 'minimal value'.

In an update earlier this morning on the progress of its formal sale process, the London-listed broker said it is 'evaluating preliminary expressions of interest' but added that, because of its level of debt, the bids received do not attribute value to its shares.

'Based on the valuation of DTZ derived from proposals received to date, however, and, given the level of debt within DTZ, there is minimal value, if any, that may be attributed to the ordinary shares of DTZ, although the exact value is uncertain,' the company said.

Shares in DTZ, which closed at 21.25 pence on Friday, dropped to historic lows below 3 pence a share shortly after the announcement. The stock's closing price on Monday was 2.85 pence.

DTZ has debt of £106 mln and cash reserves of £42 mln. Around £28 mln of debt matures next year.

The broker started a formal sale process on October 19 right after the collapse of negotiations with a consortium of its majority shareholder St. George Participations and French real estate group BNP Paribas. Oriel Securities is advising on the sale.