HBOS, the UK owner of Perth-based BankWest, said shareholders agreed to take up 8.29 per cent of its $8 billion rights issue, increasing speculation that Perth-based BankWest could be up for sale. In a statement to the London Stock Exchange, shareholders accepted just over 124 million shares prices at 275 pence each in the $4 billion issue, leaving underwriters Morgan Stanley and Dresdner Kleinwort to seek buyers for the remaining 1.38 billion shares.