Multi-millionaire composer Andrew Lloyd Webber yesterday said he wanted to take full control of his company, the Really Useful Group, following a turnaround in its financial fortunes.
And he disclosed he had been in formal negotiations with film and music giant PolyGram to buy back its 30% stake in his business before the Dutch company last week agreed to a #6000m take over by Seagram.
Lord Lloyd Webber, the man behind a string of hit musicals including Jesus Christ Superstar, Cats and Phantom of the Opera, dismissed speculation he was prepared to hand over control of Really Useful Group.
The takeover of PolyGram by Canadian drinks and entertainment group Seagram has sparked questions about the future of the Dutch company's 30% holding in the composer's theatrical company.
And it triggered reports of a possible bidding war for the stake, raising the prospect of a full-scale bid for the whole of Really Useful Group.
But in a statement yesterday, Lord Lloyd Webber said: ''Far from wanting to dilute my involvement, I am eager to acquire the PolyGram minority shareholding if that is available to me and indeed formally made such an offer to PolyGram before Seagram's involvement was announced.''
He added: ''I have never seen the Really Useful Group in such good shape.
''We have a new team of managers - young and enthusiastic - who are taking the group forward on all fronts.
''We have expanded the company considerably over the past year, taking on additional staff to work on new projects, particularly in video, records and film.''
A spokesman for Really Useful Group said that under the terms of a legal agreement, Lord Lloyd Webber had the first option to buy the 30% stake should it be offered for sale by the new owner of PolyGram.
There have been rumours that the company's finances have been overstretched and it has admitted that it made a loss in its last financial year, but the spokesman said it expected to make a profit of more than #10m in the current financial year.
Really Useful Group was formed by the composer in 1977 and was floated on the stock market in 1986, only to be returned to private ownership after just four years as a public company.
Its profits grew spectacularly, peaking at #46m in 1994, but its fortunes have since declined.
Last summer Lord Lloyd Webber took a tighter grip on the running of the business by becoming chairman, following the departure of chairman and chief executive Patrick McKenna.
He installed a new chief executive, long-standing finance director Bill Taylor, and also two new directors, Triss Penner from EMI records, and Kevin Wallace, to run, respectively, the records and theatre operations.
Lord Lloyd Webber's attempt to retain total control of Really Useful Group comes as he prepares for the London premiere of his latest musical, Whistle Down the Wind.
The stage version of the hit 1960s Hayley Mills film was first unveiled in Washington DC, but its transfer to Broadway was halted by Lord Lloyd Webber.
Really Useful Group denied it had been a financial or critical flop, but said the composer was ''a perfectionist'' and was not content with the show.
He wanted to bring it back to London and improve it before launching it on Broadway. ''He has a huge confidence in it,'' said the company spokesman.
Losses for 1996-97 are estimated at around #10m, partly blamed on the high production costs of Sunset Boulevard.
Although Lord Lloyd Webber has a string of hit shows to his name, including Superstar, Cats, Starlight Express, Phantom of the Opera, Aspects of Love, his experience with Sunset Boulevard shows that popularity with critics and audiences does not necessarily translate into financial success.
Last year he was reported as saying: ''We live in parlous times for musicals.
''As a producer, Whistle Down the Wind will be an acid test. Because shows like Phantom have been huge, there is a belief among people doing budgets that there is fat in musicals. For a new show there is none.''
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