THE battle for control of Rolls- Royce Motor Cars took a new turn yesterday with a group of enthusiasts promising to table a ''comfortably higher'' bid than Volkswagen's #430m in time for Friday's key shareholders' meeting.
Backed by a British clearing bank and a US billionaire, the group, which has formed a company called Crewe Motors, said it would bid for Rolls-Royce Motors by tomorrow, in a last-ditch effort to keep the company British.
The group of institutional, banking and individual backers aims to overtake VW's #430m offer in the final stretch of the bid race being run by owner Vickers.
Chairman of the group, Michael Shrimpton, a 41-year-old Bentley-driving barrister, said Crewe Motors' bid would send the offer to Vickers by mid-week. ''We're racing around the clock . . . but will submit it to Vickers by Wednesday.''
Asked how high the bid would be, Shrimpton said it would be ''comfortably ahead of VW'', adding they had already lined up financial commitments worth more than #430m.
If delivered, the new offer will come just days before Vickers shareholders meet on Friday to decide whether to back VW's #430m deal or an earlier #340m offer from German rival BMW.
If Vickers decides the fans' offer is credible, Rolls' judgment day could be delayed until the autumn, stretching uncertainty over the carmaker's future.
A spokesman for Vickers confirmed it had not yet received any firm offer from the Crewe Motors consortium, but added that in the interests of shareholders all new offers would be assessed.
''We've just seen the reports and heard a lot of noise,'' said the spokesman.
''We are obliged to consider it if it does come through.''
There were, however, suggestions that it would need to be considerably higher than VW's offer for the extraordinary meeting to be delayed.
Shrimpton claimed the planned new bid was highly credible and could not be ignored.
''We have a major UK clearing bank behind us and we are able to invest and maintain a low gearing level.
''There is no doubt we also have the ability to match VW's investment plans,'' he said.
But Shrimpton has refused to name his group's backers, simply citing they included a US billionaire plus Rolls and Bentley owners from across the world as well as some institutional investors who do not own any shares in Vickers.
He said the aim was to retain British ownership of the company, even if the group is backed by foreign money.
''Otherwise, it would be a blow to our national prestige and severely damage our country's reputation as a manufacturing base, and signal our retreat towards a service-based economy.
''Rolls-Royce is our flagship. It is the industrial rose of England,'' said the Crewe Motors leader.
Shrimpton claimed his bid would be unlikely to run into trouble with the owner of the Rolls brand name - the aero-engines maker, Rolls-Royce, which has the right to veto use of the name if the carmaker falls into foreign ownership.
No comment was immediately available from Rolls-Royce, VW or BMW.
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