Proposed Rover rescue deal collapses
Hopes of a potential rescue package for the ailing automotive firm MG Rover have ended after entrepreneur David James failed to win backing for a proposed buyout.
It had been thought that a consortium headed up by Mr James had the potential to prolong the life of the Longbridge plant in the Midlands by breaking up the firm and retaining those parts deemed profitable.
But with stakeholder Shanghai Automotive (SAIC) refusing to accept the plan, Mr James has been left with insufficient funds to push ahead with the scheme.
“I thought they would accept it, because it would be such a logical step. We would have put them on our board and given them 25 per cent of our new MG company as a gift,” he told Today.
“It would have been a very logical progression towards an eventual time when SAIC would have owned everything.”
