Thanks to an RROC-member.
President's Musings
FL 97-6
It is that time of year again when for folks in the northern climes, the
cars are put to bed until the weather warms up a bit. Winter for these
northern members is a good time to catch up on all those little (and
sometimes, big) projects which have hounded us during summer activities.
Sometimes, no matter how conscientious I try to be, spring gets here before
I know it, and I still have not corrected that annoying leak in the sunroof
and back window of the Wraith, or replaced weather-stripping in the Mark VI
drophead. There is certainly something to be said that as you get older,
time seems just to speed by.
Now with the Internet, there also seems to be a flood of information
available. While I regularly log onto the RROC Listserver, I have made a
habit of searching online for articles on Rolls-Royce and Bentley. Up until
recently, there were only a handful of =91hits' until Vickers announced that
the Company was up for sale. Now there are more articles than you can
possibly digest.
Over my desk just this week came information on The Rolls-Royce Action
Committee (RRAC). This committee has recently been formed to investigate
the possibility of a coalition purchasing the Company, rather than having
the Company purchased by BMW. There has been a great deal of material
recently in the British press about this movement, and our sister Club, the
RREC, backs them in spirit. The RRAC is headed by an English barrister and
Bentley owner, Michael Shrimpton. Within the next few days, the Committee
will gather at Hunt House for their organizational meeting, and thereafter
expect to go searching for the pile of gold necessary to outbid BMW.
While they do not guarantee success (putting acquisition plus initial
investment at =A3680 million, $1,105 million), they do guarantee to give it
their best shot.
Michael Shrimpton writes that the aims of the campaign are to keep the
Company in the hands of friends of Britain and Rolls-Royce, to keep
production at Crewe, and to bring the engines back to Crewe, providing
finance for a new, all-British V-12 engine, in the tradition of the big,
slow-revving engines that have always been the key to the smooth, silent
and unfussed delivery of power and torque that Rolls-Royce and Bentley
stand for. They are delighted that Mary Robinson, granddaughter of Sir
Henry Royce, has agreed to be the patron, and they intend to hold true to
the traditions Sir Henry established. They are talking to the Vickers Board
and will support the Board in any proposed solution (e.g., flotation), to
the Rolls-Royce crisis which meets their aims.=20
To cover the costs of the campaign, they have set up an administration
fund which is being run from Hunt House by RREC and is accepting
contributions at the present time. At the conclusion of the activities of
the RRAC, any funds remaining will be distributed to the Rolls-Royce clubs
world-wide, including the RROC.
They have further set up an investment account, all reportedly audited
and
subject to the Rules of the London Stock Exchange. To buy a piece of the
action, you can pledge to this account with a minimum of $1,500. There is a
range of options open to the Action Committee and investors, which can be
explained in confidence. They recommend the purchase of shares in Vickers
plc and Rolls-Royce plc, without making any representation as to price
movement. They will take this battle to the floor of the Vickers AGM, and
they are recommending to the Rolls-Royce Board that the Board seek
shareholder approval.
The persons in charge include Michael Shrimpton, Donald Longmore, and
Carl
Montgomery. For further information, I suggest a call or note to them would
bring you more information than I have space here to give. While it seems
to be a David and Goliath battle, we all know who won that one.
Reach the RRAC at: RRAC, c/o Michael Shrimpton, 7 Willow Herb,
Watermead,
Aylesbury, Bucks. HP19 3FH, England. Tel.: 011-44-1296-397-963; fax,
011-44-1296-393151.=20
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
>From : Casmat van Bloppoel=20
Village : Zwartewaal in The Netherlands
Internet: vanblop@box.nl
Homepage: Rolls-Royce & Bentley ICQ-List=20
URL: http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/7975/ICQ.HTM
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D =20
|