Dunno about that. From a jobs standpoint, keeping Rover a volume
producer - profitably - sounds like the best way to go.
CR
Bruce Burrows wrote:
>
> --WebTV-Mail-7939-144
>
> Damn!
>
> I had my hopes up. I really liked the idea of a new MG Car Company.
> Rover, and an executive with a Rover bias and mindset, is a turnoff. I
> surely hope he reconsiders or that his bid falls short.
>
> Please, everyone, pray with me this interloper turns out to be a
> "fawlty" Towers. <G>
>
> Bruce Burrows
>
> '59 MGA basket case
> '60 Daimler SP 250
> '61 Daimler SP 250
> '73 MGB driver
>
> My Dart website (not my cars!):
>
> http://community-2.webtv.net/guardian45/THEDAIMLERSP250DART/
>
> --WebTV-Mail-7939-144
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> Message-ID: <38F76235.4718CE36@u.arizona.edu>
> Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2000 11:23:50 -0700
> From: Michael Jose <mwjose@u.arizona.edu>
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> To: mgs@autox.team.net
> Subject: Associated Press Brief on Rover Sale
> Sender: owner-mgs@autox.team.net
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> Reply-To: Michael Jose <mwjose@u.arizona.edu>
>
> BMW Receives Rival Offer for Rover
>
> MUNICH, Germany (AP) — Automaker BMW said Friday it has received a
> rival offer for its ailing British subsidiary Rover from a
> group led by a onetime Rover executive but gave few details on the bid.
>
> BMW said it had received a letter outlining the new proposal from a
> group that includes John Towers, a former Rover CEO who
> left the company in 1996. The luxury German carmaker said it would
> review the offer.
>
> Last month, BMW announced its plan to sell the money-losing Rover to
> Alchemy, a group of British venture capitalists. No price
> was ever announced, leading to speculation that BMW was either giving
> Rover away or actually paying Alchemy to take the
> British automaker off its hands.
>
> Alchemy plans to buy Rover's main Longbridge plant in central England
> and turn it into a niche producer of sports cars under
> the name MG Car Co. Alchemy has no experience with car manufacturing,
> however, and significant job losses are anticipated
> by the unions.
>
> The move by Towers means BMW must now consider the new offer against
> the rival bid from Alchemy. BMW said it was leading
> parallel negotiations with both Alchemy and Towers.
>
> Towers has hinted that he would make a bid that would keep Rover as a
> volume car producer, contradicting Alchemy's plans
> to slim down production.
>
> Speaking before Towers launched his bid, British Trade Secretary
> Stephen Byers said Towers' plan ``offers a better prospect
> than perhaps anything else.''
>
> ``He believes that by working together with the work force there is a
> real chance of a far better prospect for the future than
> is being offered by Alchemy,'' Byers told the British Broadcasting
> Corp.
>
> A union leader welcomed the new bid by Towers, who was at Rover for
> eight years and is now chief executive of components
> company Concentric.
>
> ``We are pleased that this bid has been tabled and we hope it will be
> considered as a serious alternative,'' said Roger Lyons,
> general secretary of the Manufacturing, Science and Finance union.
>
> Meanwhile, Britain announced a $3.2 million aid package Friday to help
> companies that supply goods to Rover survive the
> automaker's proposed sale.
>
> The money will go toward support, advice and training for the firms
> most affected by the move.
>
> --WebTV-Mail-7939-144--
|