Niche recruiter Multi has put in a surprise bid approach for IT staffing firm Lorien.

Last month, another proposed bid from a mystery buyer fell through, leaving Lorien with a vastly reduced share price and vulnerable to a takeover.

Multi bought 850,000 shares in Lorien on Monday 23 May. This put Multi in a position to make an offer for the company’s entire share capital, together with the largest shareholder in Lorien, Southwind International.

Southwind and Multi now own 4.1m Lorien shares between them, accounting for 22.1% of the firm.

Southwind is a vehicle for Bob Morton, a well-known investor in small companies.

Morton has been busy this year and swooped to buy 16% of Universal Direct, formerly known as dotcom firm MediaInvest, in February.

A spokesman for Lorien said: “The share price has come down since the last possible bidder walked away.”