According to The Australian Financial Review, Bright Food does not consider CSR's response to the market last Friday to be a rejection, despite CSR's insistence that its preferred option is to demerge the sugar unit from its building materials and aluminium operations.

CSR is believed to be prepared to meet Bright Food but is pushing on with plans to spin-off the sugar unit and rename it Sucrogen. Last week it dismissed Bright Food's approach as little more than a "media statement".

Analysts said the publicity surrounding the tentative approach could flush out interest from foreign companies such as Associated British Foods and sugar producers from Brazil.