By Alan Jones, Industrial Correspondent, PA News
Last ditch talks over a rival bid to buy Rover were being held today as the
planned sale of the car giant to a venture capitalist neared completion.
Alchemy Partners said its plan to take over the huge Longbridge factory in
Birmingham was very nearly a "done deal", with the formal signing expected on
Friday or Saturday.
Managing partner Jon Moulton hopes to tie up final details of the "very
complicated deal" in the next two days before opening talks with unions about
thousands of redundancies.
Despite his optimism a late bid for Rover from a consortium led by John
Towers was being stepped up today.
Mr Towers, a former Rover executive, was meeting Professor Walter Samann, a
BMW board member and head of the Rover Group, to call for more time to put
together the finance needed to buy the company.
A rally was being held in Longbridge by workers backing the Towers bid
because of its promise to save jobs, while union leaders were preparing to
fly to Munich on Thursday to lobby a BMW board meeting in support of Mr
Towers.
But privately union officials were not optimistic that BMW would change its
stance and agree to extend a deadline for the controversial sale.
Trade and Industry Secretary Stephen Byers held "friendly" talks with Mr
Moulton last night and said later that the scale of job losses at Longbridge
was likely to be about 3,000, "significantly lower" than earlier estimates.
Mr Moulton would not confirm the figure before discussing redundancy terms
with unions in talks which could start as early as next week.
But sources said job losses at Longbridge could be about 3,500.
Mr Moulton was dismissive of the Towers' bid to continue with mass car
production at Longbridge saying it was a "devastatingly bad idea".
Asked whether BMW supported his view he replied: "Well, they are selling the
Rover car company to us."
Some Longbridge workers may travel to Munich later today to plead with BMW to
give Mr Towers more time, but officials at the German car firm have indicated
there was little chance of an extension to the deadline.
Mr Byers said: "The Government had always said that we want any new owner of
Longbridge to be viable, retain the largest number of jobs possible and keep
high volume car production.
"Whilst recognising that ultimately it will be for BMW to take a commercial
decision, we shall continue to do all we can to assist the workforce at
Longbridge and industry in the West Midlands."
Meanwhile an interim report from the Task Force set up by Mr Byers to
consider the scale of job losses in the West Midlands was being published
later today.
The Task Force was expected to report that the sale of Longbridge will cost
thousands of jobs both at the plant and at firms which supply and service
Rover.
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