s 977 Shares to which an offer relates
(1) Where a takeover offer is made and, during the period beginning with the date of the offer and ending when the offer can no longer be accepted, the offeror— (a) acquires or unconditionally contracts to acquire any of the shares to which the offer relates, but (b) does not do so by virtue of acceptances of the offer, those shares are treated for the purposes of this Chapter as excluded from those to which the offer relates. (2) For the purposes of this Chapter shares that an associate of the offeror holds or has contracted to acquire, whether at the date of the offer or subsequently, are not treated as shares to which the offer relates, even if the offer extends to such shares. In this subsection “ contracted ” means contracted unconditionally or subject to conditions being met. (3) This section is subject to section 979(8) and (9).