WATERFORD Wedgwood is planning to take over a German competitor, Rosenthal, according to reports in a German news magazine. The two companies are said to have been in talks for months.

The main obstacle to the take over is a limit on voting rights at Rosenthal which prevents individual shareholders owning more than 5 per cent of the voting capital, according to the report.

The two companies already have a link. Waterford said earlier this month it had recently concluded a distribution agreement with Rosenthal to distribute its products in Canada.

However, a spokesman for Waterford Wedgwood last night said "we do not comment on speculation".

Rosenthal lost 10.7 million deutschmarks (£4.4 million) in the first half of 1996 after a loss of 13.1 million deutschmarks in the same period a year earlier.