David James, the company doctor who prevented the Millennium Dome from deflating in 2000 and negotiated with Colonel Gaddafi for the release of British hostages in Libya in the 1980s, is leading an all-British bid to buy the MG sports car business for £40 million, according to the Daily Telegraph.
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James reportedly lodged details of the offer with administrator Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC) earlier last week and is hoping to re-employ 500 former workers to build the sports cars at MG’s Longbridge plant in Birmingham.
The Daily Telegraph said James has been brought in to refresh an offer made by a group of Birmingham businessmen – other bids have come from Nikolai Smolenski, the Russian owner of the Lancashire-based TVR sports car business, as well as Iranian business Dastaan.
The paper said the offer is only for the assets of MG and for its Powertrain engines plant. James reportedly said the offer – called “Project Kimber” – was fully funded, but declined to give details.
He told the Daily Telegraph: “The money is on the table. We are proposing to buy the assets and return production to Longbridge for the MG. Ours is a British-backed bid for jobs in Britain.”
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By GlobalDataThe paper said James needs to hire 500 former car workers to make his plans work, while another 1,500 new jobs hinge on whether other manufacturers can be persuaded to make cars at Longbridge. James reportedly said he was in talks to build “niche brands” there.
The Daily Telegraph said James would be chairman of the new business and take a 5% stake while a team of motor industry executives would run it on a day-to-day basis.
Alchemy Partners, the venture capitalist that tried to buy MG Rover in early 2000 before it was sold to four local businessmen for a nominal £10, had been contacted about funding, the paper noted.
Jon Moulton, chairman of Alchemy, told the Daily Telegraph: “We have been in contact with some elements of this group but we are not funding it.”
James, who started his career at Ford, told the paper he was keen to work with Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation, which bought intellectual property rights relating to some Rover models and engines for £67million late last year.
The Daily Telegraph noted it had emerged that Nick Stephenson, one of the “Phoenix Four” who netted more than £30 million from MG Rover, was working unpaid with another possible bidder, Nanjing Automotive, after executives from the Chinese company reportedly visited the plant recently.
It also emerged that the Phoenix Four, who pledged to give assets worth between £10 million and £30 million to a trust for MG Rover’s ex-workers, had been advised not to release the assets until completion of an inquiry by the Department of Trade and Industry, which could take more than 18 months, the paper added.
